This tattoo will track your health

In a world first, scientists at Harvard and MIT have created “smart tattoos” that will track your health. 

Effectively placing a sensor into the skin, the newly developed biosensitive tattoo ink is designed to react to the chemical composition of your interstitial fluid. Primarily designed for athletes and diabetics (for now), one ink will change colour to let athletes know when they're dehydrated, while another green ink turns brown to warn diabetics when their glucose levels change.

The creators of the ink — HMS postdoctoral fellows Ali Yetisen and Nan Jiang — believe the ink could cater to a wider community of people suffering from health conditions. Biologically-sensitive ink also has the potential to be incorporated into long-lasting tattoos for those with chronic conditions, or be made only visible underneath a certain light for those more image-conscious. 

Speaking on the invention, Yetisen said: “A drawback of current wearable monitoring devices is that they don’t seamlessly integrate with the body.

“Short battery life is a concern and so is the need for wireless connectivity, neither of which is an issue with the simple, color-based interface of biosensitive tattoo ink.”