Scientists have developed temporary graphene-based electronic tattoos that can monitor a patient’s blood pressure continuously.
E-tattoo can be worn on the wrist and unlike standard blood pressure cuffs, can help monitor continuous blood pressure measurements. Moreover, these standard cuffs can’t monitor the whole picture, as blood pressure can be influenced by a person’s mood at the time. As a result, continuous monitoring of blood pressure is required to examine the way the body is functioning.
“Taking infrequent blood pressure measurements has many limitations, and it does not provide insight into exactly how our body is functioning,” said Roozbeh Jafari, a professor at Texas A&M and one of the co-leader of the project.
Image courtesy: University of Texas at Austin
Highly accurate measurements
Although smartwatches and fitness trackers also give us this data, they aren’t reliable enough. But this e-tattoo delivers continuous blood pressure measurements with “Grade A” accuracy as defined by international standards. In other words, their accuracy level exceeds nearly all available options on the market today.
E-tattoos is made of graphene. These are made up of graphene strips placed in two rows along the two main forearm arteries. It works by firing a very small electrical current into the skin and measuring how the body reacts.
“The sensor for the tattoo is weightless and unobtrusive. You place it there. You don’t even see it, and it doesn’t move,” Jafari said.
While testing this device, researchers accurately monitored blood pressure for over 300 minutes. Scientists foresee their tech will help in better monitoring of health conditions, as it will allow accurate blood pressure supervision even when the patient is sleeping, exercising, or during stress.
The research was published in the journal Nature Nanotechnology.
