Swiss researchers are developing an implant that could let you know when it detects cancer in your body, enabling the wearer to catch cancer early and save lives.
90% of bowel cancer is preventable if caught early enough and the advancement of ‘smart tattoos’ help to monitor health with bio sensitive ink that changes colour when the body’s interstitial fluid changes.
Harvard’s MIT researchers have previously developed smart tattoo ink capable of monitoring health by changing colour to tell an athlete when s/he is dehydrated or a diabetic when his or her blood sugar rises.
The new Swiss biomedical tattoo is the next stage in wearable tech to help seamlessly integrate into the body and avoid the need for rechargeable batteries or wireless connectivity.
It looks just like a brown mole but lights up when it, it alerts the wearer of the possible presence of cancerous cells.
This could have a huge impact on cancer diagnoses and help with long term survival for cancer patients.
Prof. Martin Fussenegger — of the Department of Biosystems Science and Engineering at Eidgenössische Technische Hochschule Zürich in Switzerland — alongside a team of researchers, has developed the prototype set to recognise four of the most widespread types of cancer being breast cancer, lung cancer, prostate cancer, and bowel cancer.