Smart tattoos are keeping tabs on our health

It’s long been known that body fluids are a window into the state of our health. By the 19th century, specialised laboratories housing increasingly sophisticated diagnostic techniques for studying urine and blood samples had started to emerge. These labs remain the dominant model for body fluid diagnostics today but do, however, have one major disadvantage – speed. Samples must be collected, transported to the lab, and results waited for.

By the mid-20th century, faster alternatives started to be developed – body fluid diagnostic tests able to be conducted at patients’ bedsides or by the patients themselves. The urine dipstick came onto the market in the late 1950s, followed by portable glucose meters in 1970. These glucose meters revolutionised diabetic care, but the need for frequent finger pricking puts off patients. Flash glucose monitors, introduced in the mid-2010s, transformed diabetic care once again.

Chemists are now working towards similar devices that sit on or just under the skin to collect information from body fluids that ranges from drug metabolite levels to hydration status to ultraviolet light (UV) exposure.