Imagine having a tattoo inked onto your body that could help you better manage your diabetes Well, that may be where the next advancement in blood sugar levels occurs. Instead of the standard finger prick and testing strips or implanting devices under the skin that continually monitor blood sugar levels and sends that information to an external device, a team of Harvard and MIT scientists has come up with an innovative alternative.
Using a specialized ink, they have designed a biosensing tattoo that depending upon your blood sugar levels, will change colors.
DermalAbyss ink is still in its initial proof-of-concept stage and has not yet been approved for public use. But the prototype design allows the ink to be able to track pH levels and sodium and glucose concentrations within a diabetic<s bloodstream. Too much glucose and the tattoo becomes brown. Too much sodium and the ink shifts toward green while purple and pinks illustrate changes to pH level.
“The DermalAbyss ink presents a novel approach to bio interfaces in which the body’s surface is rendered as an interactive display,” notes the scientists’ promotional video. The dynamic ink isn’t directly linked to your bloodstream, in truth it is monitoring your interstitial fluid, a substance that surrounds the tissue cells where water, ions and small solutes – including salts, sugars, fatty and amino acids and hormones – are constantly making their way through this fluid across the walls of your capillaries.
However, it has only been tested on pig skin, which is not unlike the human epidermis. But scientists are convinced about its potential and are eager to begin human trials believe that human tests will reveal question about allergic reactions and how the ink-based technology will break down over time.
Researchers are hoping that the technology catches on, ensuring diabetics that once the technology has been inked to their skin it becomes part of their biology. The researchers point out that the tattoos are much like their conventional counterparts. Individuals can choose whatever design they want to ordain their skin.
“We envision new participation between the biotech companies and skin professionals…in order to embrace the idea of human device symbiosis,” the Harvard and MIT researchers concluded.
