Tattooing is usually a slow and deliberate process that has become very popular in recent decades. You come up with an idea or choose a drawing from a flash drive or folder, and then your artist will draw the image and create a stencil. They talk about design and last-minute adjustments. Finally, your artist will spend the next few hours masterfully painting the color onto your skin.
Getting a tattoo is not only an investment of money, but also an investment of time, not to mention the pain you feel during the application. That is, unless you're a 10-year-old who meets the King of Staten Island on the beach and gives you a free tattoo. This is a bad decision both in the film and after it, but it could have been worse. After the turn, the boy left and ran home. Probably for the best, getting a free tattoo from a stranger on the beach isn't a very big life decision, especially if you're in fifth grade.
But in the future, this child may never return. According to a recent article published in the journal iScience, researchers at the Georgia Institute of Technology have developed a patch that can painlessly transfer an entire tattoo in just a few minutes.
The patch is similar to a bandage, except that it is equipped with a series of small needles to which the patch is usually attached. The needle contains tattoo ink that is designed to stay permanently on the skin. According to the team, the needle is so small that you don't feel it pierce the skin and blood doesn't flow. Most importantly, you can still spray paint safely. It's all about its unusual structure.
Most needles, even the smallest ones, are made of hard materials such as metal, glass, ceramic, or some polymers. These tattoo patch microneedles take a different approach. The needles themselves are made in a container that dissolves the tattoo ink.
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Medical microinjection Photo: Georgia Institute of Technology
The researcher began by placing the needle in the correct position. Today you can make small shapes, letters and numbers. Then color is added and a cap is put on the back of the needle. By pressing the pad on the desired surface, the needle moves into the body. The patch is then left for a few minutes, allowing the needle to dissolve on its own, leaving the dye behind. Because it gets a point of color by injection, the resulting image is reminiscent of retro video games or pixel art. In the future, you will be able to easily create your own pixel art on your computer and display those pixels with microneedles filled with the appropriate color. Just press and in a few minutes permanent pixel art will appear on your body.
The researchers obviously don't think it can replace the traditional tattoo, but it could be an option for those who don't want to endure thousands of hours of charcoal drilling. It may have medical applications including medical alert technology, radiotherapy guidance, and post-operative or cosmetic procedures. In addition, the injection works with black light, which is only visible under ultraviolet light. This can provide additional privacy by permanently recording medical information on your body. It's great too.
Of course, the question arises whether these patches can achieve the same immortality as ordinary tattoos. Tattooing is a perfect art form that has been practiced for thousands of years. We have endless and growing evidence that tattoos are an effective way to leave indelible marks on the skin. Transferring the process to new technology raises some questions about how these tattoo variations compare.
The researchers conducted follow-up after the tattoos were applied and found that the tattoos lasted at least a year and showed no signs of fading. As with any tattoo, the evidence shows that they are permanent. No pain and no chance to go back to bad decisions before it's too late.