Smart Tattoos: The Clever Ink that Tells You if You’re Sick

Sensio Air

Two groups of researchers from MIT and Harvard University have collaborated on a project that has already caught the eyes of art and tech lovers alike. Meet Dermal Abyss.

The DermalAbyss project has ultimately proven how the human body can quite literally transform into an interactive, Iron Man-like display. Rather than using normal tattoo ink, the researchers opted for a cutting-edge alternative that holds colour-changing biosensors. The ink will change its hue depending on the state of the body’s interstitial fluid.

Monitoring the levels of glucose, for instance, Dermal Abyss would potentially change the way in which people with diabetes (who have to pierce their skin frequently to check the sugar levels in their blood) go about their daily routine. According to the MIT media website, the researchers currently imagine a “future where the painful procedure is replaced with a tattoo, of which the colour [changes] from pink to purple based on the glucose levels.”

Therefore, if diabetics were able to monitor their glucose levels by noticing colour changes in their tattoo, there would be no need for painful or uncomfortable needles anymore.

However, before you race to your local tattoo parlour – know this. The project is currently for research purposes only, and there aren’t any plans for clinical trials or to develop Dermal Abyss as a product – yet.

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