Researchers at University of California, San Diego have developed sensor-laden inks that can be drawn directly on the skin with a ballpoint pen:
They revealed that the main ingredients of these inks are the enzymes glucose oxidase, which responds to blood glucose, and tyrosinase, which responds to common pollutants known as phenols. To make these bio-inks serve as electrodes, they added electrically conductive graphite powder. They also added: chitosan, a clotting agent used in bandages, to help the ink stick to surfaces; xylitol, a sugar substitute, to help stabilize the enzymes during chemical reactions; and biocompatible polyethylene glycol, which is used in several drug delivery applications, to help bind all these ingredients together.
The scientists filled off-the-shelf ballpoint pens with their enzymatic inks. The pens could create a blood glucose sensor simply by drawing glucose-sensitive ink on a transparent, flexible strip that included an electrode. When a blood drop was placed on the sensor, the ink reacted with glucose in the blood and the sensor measured the reaction.
The inks can also be created to measure other chemicals.
It seems like a better solution than the epidermal implants from Cloud Atlas, as it's far more upgradeable.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday April 23 2015, @02:36PM
Completely invisible, but glows green when it senses you talking to a gurl
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday April 23 2015, @02:46PM
So it doesn't glow, then?