Electronic Tattoo Enables More Effective Patient Monitoring

Researchers have created a film resembling a tattoo that will allow doctors to monitor vital signs without burdensome wiring and electrodes.

John A. Rogers of the University of Illinois told CBS News that "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." Rogers added that "The goal is really to blur the distinction between electronics and biological tissue," he added.

Researchers said that they are now able to embed electronic sensors in a film thinner than human hair. The film is then placed on a polyester backing. The sensor, similar to a tattoo, bends with human skin.

The bandage-like device is powered by a weak force called the van der Waals force, which causes molecules and surfaces to bind together.

Heart rate and temperature monitoring will become considerably simpler if this device becomes widely available, researchers said. The device also monitors brain waves, senses the larynx for speech, helps with muscle movement, and emits heat to effectively heal wounds.

The findings were published in a paper in the journal Science Friday.