Tattoo-like nanosensor could monitor glucose levels, enhance your cool factor
By Darren Murph 
posted February 17th 2009 7:48AM
posted February 17th 2009 7:48AM
Make no mistake, there are quite a few sophisticated ways to monitor one's glucose levels, but we're pretty certain we've never seen an approach as simple and as bodacious as this. Massachusetts-based Draper Laboratories has stumbled upon a new embeddable nanosensor that could, at least in theory, eliminate those painful pricks endured today by so many diabetics. The so-called "injectable nanotech ink" could be inserted under the skin much like a tattoo, though Draper's Heather Clark notes that it "doesn't have to be a large, over-the-shoulder kind of tattoo." In fact, it can be as small as a few millimeters in size, though if it were us, we'd use it as the perfect excuse in order to plaster our backs with Ice Climbers. Testing of the new approach is expected to begin very soon, though that usually means it won't be ready for humans until at least a few years later. Ah well, plenty of time to dream up the perfect design, right?[Via medGadget]
Wait! What does this have to do with cell phones?!?
this is the mark of the beast!!!
I think you can put this on a cell phone.
Shut up dude...that's not funny
h+ me up
The tech in the nanobytes could, in theory, transmit the blood glucose levels to your cell phone...
Didn't everyone get that? :)
Gawd I fracking want this. My fingers are tired of having holes poked in them. Someone PLEASE get one of these non-invasive methods on the market - my fingertips are begging you!
/Type 1 diabetic
//would get a sea serpent tattoo.
I feel your pain, There are so many different ways as of now to do it non-invasively. There was an opportunity for me to join a clinical trial for a laser test where the deflection of the laser can indicate the glucose...pretty sweet, but it'll still be a little while until one of these are FDA approved and it becomes financially available.
"DUDE! YOU'RE ALL RED!"
-"F*CK! I'M GOING TO DIE!"
I'm a type 1 diabetic would would (obviously) love to see this work out. I'm very skeptical that it could actually replace finger pricking (we have continuous glucose monitors we wear on our bodies all day and we still have to prick our finger to calibrate them), but it could certainly warn of trends in a less intrusive way.
I'll just get one on my wrist to replace my medical alert bracelet and CGM. Score.
I have the capability to use the CGM but insurance won't cover it. It is for that reason that I have my doubts about this, since the insurance industry is very finicky about diabetic technology. Heck I even had trouble getting my pump covered when I got it...
I had a surprisingly easy time getting the pump covered - now I'm just paying off the deductible for the supplies.
That does bring up some other issues though. How much would something like this cost? Would it need to be maintained? It seems obvious to me that it would be very different from a typical tattoo. I don't feel it can ever replace a meter. Why? Something like this can not give you a number to describe your glucose level. I can't accurately give myself insulin to correct a "yellow" blood glucose reading.
Nathan,
You may need to think of that Other kind of Diabetes.
For us type 2s, a 'yellow' reading could send us scurrying to our meters to test, whereas now, there are thousands of type 2s who never test, or whose only actual testing takes place with a health professional watching us.
I'm getting this asap, and I'm thinking it would be in the form of some kind of medic alert symbol on my wrist. And if this is the sign of the beast then 1) you don't have a good understanding of your religious symbolism, and 2) would the standard North American diet & lifestyle be the beast?
Lori Rode
One of my ultimate "dream" gadgets would be a dot-matrixs display-style Tattoo, capable of turning my arm into an E-book display. It doesn't need to do anything too crazy, like freak'n video, but if it could show me the time, and change images at will (or even turn transparent, for times when I don't want anything showing) I would be under the needle TOMORROW! I'd pay a $1000, at the drop of a hat, for just 1 square inch of tattoo like that!
I guess a rice size chip to control it would also be necessary... SOMEBODY MAKE THIS HAPPEN!
so this is how FoxDie begins.
Funny how "sci-fi" becomes "sci-fact". This very same idea was used for the short-lived show "The Invisible Man". He had a green ouroboros tattoo that turned red when he needed the counter-agent (kept him from going crazy). Interesting bit for TV, potentially great idea for real world situations.
I'd love to see this become reality, even if just as an early warning trend indicator. I'm a Type 1 *AND* I've already got a barcode tattoo.
Depending on the color scaling available, I can see myself getting a design with eyes that glow different colors -- "Yikes, my tattoo's eyes are red, better eat something..."
If you already have the barcode, I would simply add a red line through it to look like you were getting scanned! That would be an awesome tattoo!
On the forearm:
"If you can read this, I am slowly dying..."
On the forehead:
"666"
doesn't anyone else remember this from that show "The Invisible Man" that ran on SciFi a few years back? When his invisibility got to be too much, the tattoo on his arm of a snake (eating itself in a perpetual cycle) would change colors scale by scale to red to let him know when he needed to dose up. Maybe a source of inspiration for this?
Maybe?
by the time this comes to market, hopefully we'll have a cure for diabetes. yay for stem cell research!
By the time this is viable, there may be a cure for Type 1 diabetes (hoooraay!!), but it is unlikely that there will be a cure for Type 2 diabetes and/or obesity, during that time frame. Where do I sign up for the trial of the tattoo?
Because the whole enGadget staff definitely has diabetes...
Great article about a very promising and useful technology that has the potential to improve health and quality of life for millions who would wholeheartedly welcome a less invasive blood sugar monitor. We write extensively about elevated blood sugar and related issues at http://dentistryfordiabetics.com/blog.
- Charles Martin, DDS
Founder, Dentistry For Diabetics