Do-it-yourself tattoos ready in a few minutes and without pain are finally possible thanks to patches that contain microscopic needles made of ink wrapped in a soluble matrix: once applied, they quickly slip under the skin, where they deposit the ink forming the desired design , which can be in color, permanent or temporary.
The technology was developed in the United States by researchers at the Georgia Institute of Technology: published in the journal iScience, it could also be used to make tattoos useful for monitoring health and tracking sterilized animals.
Microneedle patches are already on the market as cosmetic (e.g. anti-wrinkle) treatments, but the team of researchers led by Mark Prausnitz has been experimenting with them for years for painless delivery of drugs and vaccines.
"We saw this as an opportunity to leverage our work on microneedle technology to make tattoos more accessible," Prausnitz explains.
"While some people are willing to accept the pain and time it takes for a tattoo, we thought others might prefer a tattoo that is simply pressed to the skin and doesn't hurt."
Unlike the patches already used in cosmetics and pharmaceuticals, which have microneedles arranged in the shape of a square or circle, those for tattoos can draw letters, numbers, symbols and images.
Microneedles can incorporate tattoo inks of various colors: they can even use inks that become visible only under ultraviolet light or at certain temperatures.
The study shows that do-it-yourself tattoos could last at least a year and are most likely permanent, making them a viable alternative for those who want a painless, infection-free aesthetic tattoo.
Microneedles can also be loaded with temporary inks to meet short-term needs such as in the medical field, to monitor diseases such as diabetes or to guide radiation therapy.