Electronic Tattoos

Ultrathin, flexible circuit boards that attach to the skin could replace conventional wired medical equipment, especially when it comes to monitoring vital signs.

New electronic tattoos, also known as epidermal electronics are taking state-of-the-art wireless medical technology and sticking it to a patients’ skin, much in the same way a temporary tattoo is applied.

University of Illinois researcher John Rogers is co-author of the paper which appears in the current issue of Science. He shows how scientists created s-shaped circuits which can bend and flex with the elasticity of skin.

The thin-skinned electronic medical device can last up to two weeks and in the short term could replace bulky devices that monitor a patient’s heart rate, blood pressure, brain activity or other vital signs.

In preliminary tests if the tattoo is attached to a video game player’s throat, muscle contractions in the neck can be translated to allow limited vocabulary in controlling the movement in the game. This can also be used to help people with disorders of the larynx speak again.

Not everyone is hailing this breakthrough in electronics. Some conservative Christian groups are terrified that this scientific advance could also be interpreted as the Mark of the Beast described in the Bible, signaling the end of days.

And at least one bioethicist is already concerned that while voluntary monitoring of someone’s condition is a good use of this technology, forcing another person to wear an electronic tattoo to see if they are taking their medication or present a security risk is another story altogether.

Northwestern University civil and environmental engineering professor Yongang Huang explains the interest in combining flexible electronics with the human body. He’s and Dr. Rogers have been working on this technology for six years.