These Color Changing Tattoos Can Help Collectors with Diabetes

For years, scientists have introduced “medical tattoos” that usually take the form of a semi-permanent sticker. Or, the “smart tattoo,” designed by The University of Colorado, to tell us when our skin is getting too much sun. However, chemical engineer Ali Yetisen of the Technical University of Munich has recently pioneered real tattoos that change colors with shifting levels of pH, glucose, and albumin.

The German scientists have began testing color changing pigments on pig skins, which have the potential to one day monitor illnesses such as diabetes and kidney disease in human patients.  Currently, scientists are working to make this color changing pigments reversible, so that patients can have functioning tattoos throughout their lives, as opposed to on a one time test.

While it will likely be many years before functioning color changing tattoo ink hits the medical market, these tests show that this technology may not be far off. What do you think about the potential for color changing tattoos? What do you think about the integration of science into the tattoo world? Let us know your thoughts and questions on this story in the comments section.