Now, hi-tech tattoo to monitor vitals

Tuesday, 16 August 2011, 15:49 IST
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Now, hi-tech tattoo to monitor vitals
LONDON: Scientists have developed a tiny wireless patch which they say can be worn like a temporary tattoo to monitor a patient's vital signs such as temperature and heart rate more conveniently. An international team of researchers which is behind the device said it would eliminate the bulky wiring and electrodes used in current monitors and make it more comfortable for patients. The scientist, who detailed their findings in the journal Science, embedded electronic sensors in a film thinner than the diameter of a human hair which was placed on a polyester backing like those used for the temporary tattoos popular with children. The result was a sensor that was flexible enough to move with the skin and would adhere without adhesives, and the researchers said the test devices had remained in place for up to 24 hours, the Daily Mail reported. Although normal shedding of skin cells would eventually cause the monitors to come off, the team believe the new device could remain in place for as long as two weeks. "What we are trying to do here is to really reshape and redefine electronics to look a lot more like the human body, in this case the surface layers of the skin," said researcher John Rogers of the University of Illinois. "The goal is really to blur the distinction between electronics and biological tissue." In addition to monitoring patients in hospitals, other uses for the devices could include monitoring brain waves, muscle movement, sensing the larynx for speech, emitting heat to help heal wounds and perhaps even being made touch sensitive and placed on artificial limbs.
Source: PTI
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