Tattoos come in all shapes and sizes. A new kind of temporary tattoo could become a kind of health monitor. Instead of just art — a tattoo can also be science!
A materials research team at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, along with colleagues at Northwestern University, have developed a liquid crystal display (LCD) tattoo that does more than look and sound cool—it monitors your health. As reported by Marsha Lewis of Inside Science: “It’s kind of the next-generation wearable technology: technology that by virtue of its intimate contact with the skin could provide clinical-quality data.”
The LCD tattoo consists of 3,600 liquid crystals, each just half a millimeter square, on a thin and flexible material. The tattoo works like a mood ring—its liquid crystals change colour with changes in body temperature, which indicate differences in blood flow, skin hydration and heart rate. The colour difference can enable you to map your blood flow, different veins, and tell you about your cardiac health and different physiological things in your body.
Clik here to view.
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Apparently all a user has to do is slap on the tattoo, wear it for two weeks, and then snap a smartphone picture of the worn tattoo.
The research team claims that they can determine skin hydration, and measure electrical signals associated with activity in the brain, the heart and the skeletal muscles. The ultimate idea of course would be that the patch provide preventative health monitoring – essentially 24/7 monitoring. Using a special smartphone app, you can snap a photo of the patch and the temperature data is translated into a health report — all within thirty seconds.
You can place it on your neck or on your arm and leave it there for two weeks. If it changes color, you know you have a problem.
If you have a two minutes, I invite you to click on the YouTube video: https://www.insidescience.org/content/heat-sensing-tattoo-monitors-your-health/3176
LCDs are constructed of a variety of materials, some of which have complex chemical formulations and names to match. However, indium-tin oxides and basic silica (in the glass) play feature roles in the make-up of the device – so once again, you guessed it, Rare Metals Matter.
Until soon… Ian
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