But Mom, it's for science!

Researchers from UT Austin and Texas A&M have developed a new e-tattoo that can deliver highly-accurate blood pressure measurements for up to 24 hours at a time, according to a new peer-reviewed study.

🩸 Background: Blood pressure is “the most important vital sign you can measure,” per the study’s authors; if left untreated, high blood pressure can lead to a range of potentially fatal outcomes, like a heart attack or stroke.

• For decades, the gold standard for measurement has been cuff-based devices that constrict around the arm. 
• But these only measure a single moment in time, rather than delivering continuous results, and are often too clunky to use outside of medical settings.

💉 That’s where e-tattoos come in… This technology is similar to temporary tattoos for children: you get them damp, hold them to your skin, and they stick for a few days.

• But while temporary tattoos are merely decorative, the new e-tattoos are designed to monitor a patient’s blood pressure in all kinds of scenarios – like sleeping or exercising – while delivering thousands more measurements than any device currently on the market.

👀 Looking ahead... While their e-tattoo is still in early development, the scientists are hopeful it’ll lead to the “holy grail” of blood pressure monitoring – an accurate, cuffless device for commercial use.