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A team of German scientists have developed tattoos that change color according to the body's levels of glucose, albumin an pH levels. This would allow patients with chronic diseases keep track of their health without having to take constant blood samples.
Cr: Science Acumen

(“Maam why did you come to the ER today?”
“My tattoo turned yellow.”😉 Very cool though)

Image in two main sections. The top section shows a person wearing nitrile gloves holding a tattoo in their right hand and applying green ink to white skin. The right side of that section shows three tattoo stars organized on a curve from the bottom left to the top right. The left star is smallest and has a light blue color to it. The middle star shows a dark green color and is slightly larger than the first star. The right star is light green and is the largest star. The bottom section shows columns of colored dots on skin in differing colors. The top line is marked "pH" with colors ranging from a goldenrod to a deep blue, the middle is marged "Glucose" and ranges from a very light green to a forest green, and the bottom is marked "Albumin" and ranges from white to a light blue. There is a mark at the bottom which is illegible.
This entry was edited (2 weeks ago)

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in reply to Vee

InnœRa
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InnœRa
• •
very interesting! But tattoos that “change colour” to track health biomarkers?
Skin isn’t a petri dish. Glucose ≠ predictable. Albumin is a stretch. And colour shifts on melanin-rich skin? Practically invisible.
Tech needs to see all shades to be truly revolutionary.
in reply to InnœRa

Brokar
mastodon - Link to source
Brokar
• •

@innoera

Don't you think that it's still a huge step forward for at least 50% of the people if it works? So why condemn it before you saw it?

Not every medicine is for everyone. Some have allergies. But the majority is fine.

@VeroniqueB99

@Vee @InnœRa
in reply to Brokar

Joe
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Joe
• •
@Brokar @innoera No, it isn't a huge step forward, because diabetics already have more accurate means to monitor their blood sugar levels than this tattoo would provide. And they not only need to know their current sugar level, but whether it is holding steady, going up or going down, and how fast. This kind of thing isn't going to provide that.
@Brokar @InnœRa
in reply to Joe

Brokar
mastodon - Link to source
Brokar
• •

@not2b @innoera

Just glad you 2 are not in charge of a research department, because then we would never get any new things. "Why bother when it's not universal and has maybe side effects for some"

Imagine they would have said that about the first electric cars. "Only 190km range" nah, dump it, too short, why bother.

@VeroniqueB99

@Vee @InnœRa @Joe
in reply to Brokar

Joe
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Joe
• •
@Brokar @innoera Please don't put quotes around something that no one in the conversation said or even implied.
@Brokar @InnœRa
in reply to Joe

Brokar
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Brokar
• •

@not2b @innoera
Really? "No, it isn't a huge step forward, because diabetics already have more accurate means to monitor their blood sugar levels"

That's exactly what i was refering to. Why bother researching something new or different when we already have something. With your thoughts we'd still be using steam engines.
So that was very well the quintessence of your statement.

@InnœRa @Joe
in reply to Vee

Snippety Snap (she/her)
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Snippety Snap (she/her)
• •
#Alt4Me
#alt4me
in reply to Snippety Snap (she/her)

Future Eve™
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Future Eve™
• •

@shansterable

Image in two main sections.

The top section shows a person wearing nitrile gloves holding a tattoo in their right hand and applying green ink to white skin. The right side of that section shows three tattoo stars organized on a curve from the bottom left to the top right. The left star is smallest and has a light blue color to it. The middle star shows a dark green color and is slightly larger than the first star. The right star is light green and is the largest star.

The bottom section shows columns of colored dots on skin in differing colors. The top line is marked "pH" with colors ranging from a goldenrod to a deep blue, the middle is marged "Glucose" and ranges from a very light green to a forest green, and the bottom is marked "Albumin" and ranges from white to a light blue.

There is a mark at the bottom which is illegible.

@VeroniqueB99

@Snippety Snap (she/her) @Vee
in reply to Vee

Marco "Ocramius" Pivetta
mastodon - Link to source
Marco "Ocramius" Pivetta
• •
didn't find it in any thread, but do you have a source/paper somewhere?
in reply to Marco "Ocramius" Pivetta

Bob LeFridge
mastodon - Link to source
Bob LeFridge
• •

The paper was published in 2019 (link below). I can't find any record of human trials or the concept going into production.

I doubt that the one-size-fits-all approach would be terribly effective. As I diabetic I take 7 readings a day and the results determine my insulin dosage. Five coloured blobs doesn't have that precision.

Nice idea. But possibly impractical.

news-medical.net/news/20190723…

@ocramius @VeroniqueB99


New color-changing tattoos can monitor glucose levels and other metabolites in real-time

Scientists in Germany have developed an intradermal tattoo that changes color in response to fluctuations in glucose, albumin, and pH levels.
News-Medical
@Vee @Marco "Ocramius" Pivetta
in reply to Vee

Aaron Brick — אהרן בריק
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Aaron Brick — אהרן בריק
• •
Super cool invention if true. IMHO, that junk at the bottom looks like an artifact of AI generation.
in reply to Vee

Mina
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Mina
• •
I actually never wanted a tattoo, but these stars are cute *and* useful.
in reply to Vee

Licho
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Licho
• •
isn't it like 10 years old news?
in reply to Vee

Licho
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Licho
• •
Do you know if they delivered? I suppose it should go through some clinical trial. I'm not seeing those but also I'm not in need of one.
in reply to Vee

un teclado
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un teclado
• •
Well, as a matter of fact, there's been, for example active glucose meters since quite a bunch of years now. They lack of a problem of desynchronisation. They say your glucose levels about 20 minutes ago because they are not in contact with your aorta, so they are problematic in some situations.
This meters dig about a centimeter in your skin, so I could imagine a tatoo half a milimeter inside your skin will have an even bigger deviation. So... Are they really useful?
in reply to un teclado

Vee
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Vee
• •
@teclado
The article is from a ways back (2022) so I'm not sure they were released...
@un teclado
Unknown parent

Vee
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Vee
• •
@mbybee 👍
@MBybee
in reply to Vee

loucovey
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loucovey
• •
The one problem is the glucose tattoo only works once. The pH changes often but the others are one and done
in reply to Vee

Katja
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Katja
• •
had a look loads happening with tatoos sorry in. German but nothing deeple cant translate 20min.ch/story/dieses-tattoo-w…

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Riccardo Castellano (20 Minuten)
This entry was edited (2 weeks ago)
in reply to Vee

Remi
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Remi
• •
That is so cool! I dont need them, but id totally want some to watch the stars on my leg/arm/whatever change colors day to day
in reply to Vee

ginoputrino
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ginoputrino
• •

I happen to know a little bit about this stuff from my previous job.

The problem with this tech is the glucose change signal comes to the skin layer the tattoo accesses way too slowly to be useful to diabetics. Blood pricks are still the only useful standard unfortunately.

I recommend the book: The Pursuit of Noninvasive Glucose: "Hunting the Deceitful Turkey"

Vee reshared this.

in reply to Vee

Joe
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Joe
• •
Continuous glucose monitors (like the one my type 1 diabetic wife has) work well enough. The much more difficult problem is keeping the blood sugar level in range; even with an insulin pump it is a real pain.
in reply to Vee

Of Bookish Things
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Of Bookish Things
• •
The White House announced today that ICE has detained members of the Elll Doradoh's very extreme terrorist gang, Sweet Chameleons. "They hide in plain sight, but we got them making change."
We reached out for comments from Elll Doradoh, but were still reaching. Penguin Islands had no comment.
in reply to Vee

Abie
glitchsoc - Link to source
Abie
• •

The paper (2019)
onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10…
Coverage
news-medical.net/news/20190723…

I'm curious as to the follow up.


New color-changing tattoos can monitor glucose levels and other metabolites in real-time

Scientists in Germany have developed an intradermal tattoo that changes color in response to fluctuations in glucose, albumin, and pH levels.
News-Medical
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