There’s a common misconception that tattoos are only a way to express your individuality (just like everyone else does), or only serve as loving tributes to moms. But they have practical medical applications too, especially now that circuit board temporary tattoos exist.


Developed by Chaotic Moon Studios, which describes itself as a “creative technology studio,” these Tech Tats use conductive inks (in lieu of actual tattoo inks) that only sit on the surface of the skin so they’re not permanent. After all, given the speed at which technology evolves, the last thing you want is a permanent circuit board tattoo on your arm that’s outdated within a year.


The Tech Tats will certainly take your cyborg cosplay to a whole new level, but Chaotic Moon Studios actually developed them for medical monitoring purposes. Instead of wearing a temporary (and cumbersome) chest strap or arm cuff to monitor a patient’s heart rate, blood pressure, or other vitals, a circuit board tattoo could be applied to their arm that would wirelessly communicate with a smartphone app to keep tabs on them.

The tattoos would allow patients to go on with their daily routines while still being monitored by medical professionals, instead of being tethered to bulky machines.

There are other benefits, too. In medical treatments that are used to treat cancer, like radiation therapy, permanent tattoos are applied to a patient and used as reference marks for aligning and calibrating the treatment machines. However, when the treatment is over, the patient still has those permanent marks–and they can serve as a reminder of the ordeal. Because temporary tattoos like these Tech Tats can be easily removed, patients wouldn’t be left with an unpleasant reminder of a difficult treatment.

[Chaotic Moon Studios via designboom]