This temporary tattoo tests your blood sugar levels, minus the pain of needles
It’s now officially the most painless way to get these vital statistics
Stand back Google – the blood sugar level monitoring contact lenses that you’re working on might soon take a back seat. There’s a new player in town and it doesn’t require any pain, tears, or bloodshed.
Sources indicate that nanoengineers might have developed a new technology that enables people to measure their blood sugar levels without having to go through the traditional way of pricking your finger. And this new technology comes in the form of a temporary tattoo.
Amay Bandodkar, a researcher at the University of California in San Diego, created this flexible sensor that’s about the size of a regular plaster. It contains electrodes printed on a thin tattoo paper that sends mild electrical currents through the user’s body to measure their glucose levels.
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No more needles
Measuring someone’s blood sugar levels many times a day can be a painful process if they’ve got to puncture themselves with needles every single time. This, however, is a more practical and painless way to get these vital statistics.
Bandodkar mentioned, in a statement, that these temporary tattoos can easily survive for a day and that patients can dispose of them after use: "These are extremely inexpensive [too] — a few cents — and hence can be replaced without much financial burden on the patient".
It’s believed that the tattoo will eventually have Bluetooth capabilities to send the collective data directly to a user’s doctor in real-time, in addition to storing the data in the cloud. We just love the idea that the process doesn’t necessarily involve those pesky needles anymore.
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[Source and image: Mashable]
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