Here's How Bioink Might Change Diagnositics

Imagine clothing that could monitor your health. What if you could find out what’s going on with you medically just by looking at the color of your shirt? Sounds like something out of a futuristic sci-fi movie, doesn’t it? Thanks to some new technology, the future is here. Let’s take a closer look at this interesting innovation.

Smart Fabrics as Medical Devices

Researchers at Tufts University have created new wearable ink that can tell us a lot about our health. Their biomaterial-based inks are capable of sensing chemicals in sweat and other fluids in the body. Fabrics screen-printed with these new high-tech inks can detect and display information about many different biological conditions. It can even reveal pathogens found on the surface of the skin. They are now dreaming up soft, comfortable clothing, including masks, with the bioactive inks. We already have many wearable detectors like patches and wristbands that can tell us about glucose levels and heart rate. But unlike those gadgets, the inks don't work with sensor chips or electronics.

How Do Bioactive Inks Work?

The inks have the potential to accurately sense chemicals that can tell us about things like skin health, fatigue levels, dehydration, blood glucose, heart rate and maybe even exposure to infectious diseases.The scientists at Tufts used silk-based inks that were activated with "reporter" molecules. Those molecules react to the skin's release of sweat and other fluids. The inks include pH-sensitive molecules and enzymes that work by stimulating biological proteins, causing the ink to change color. The team believes they can add components like antibodies, chemically sensitive dyes, and other enzymes capable of customizing the inks to detect certain conditions.

The bioactive formula of the ink gives it the ability to be screen printed. And we're not just talking about printing on clothes. These incredible inks can also be used on wood, plastics, paper and other surfaces. Even skin? Well, temporary tattoos are already being investigated as a possible medical device. But with these inks, that means furniture, objects and even entire buildings could be biosensitive.

Bioink and Privacy

As great as this news is, some privacy considerations could arise. The biosensing clothes change colors for all to see. However, to accurately interpret those color changes, you may require granular digital mapping or high-resolution imaging—and that may, for a while at least, belay concerns. This new invention shows excellent promise for monitoring exercise performance, general health and even the risk of pathogen transmission—imagine if our masks tested for viruses? Using the inks architecturally could mean tracking factors like air quality. It is unclear when this new technology will hit the stores or in what form but the research is astonishing. There is so much promise in these ideas. What an exciting (if at times terrifying) time to be alive.

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