So here’s a great story from the medical tech frontier. Two different sets of researchers at MIT and Draper Labs are working on nanotechnology ink that would be used to monitor blood glucose levels in diabetics. Injected into the skin of people with diabetes, these “tattoos” would give off a fluorescence that would indicate a person’s blood sugar level as part of regulating their insulin therapy.

Each lab is playing with different approaches – MIT features a more permanent tattoo while Draper Labs is working on a temporary version that would need to be reinjected every seven days. Here’s a video on the latter:

Human trials are still a long way off, but this research is yet another example of the fascinating work being done as we speak on the advancement of in-body technology that will monitor and regulate our health. Sensor-based pharmaceuticals, artery-scrubbing nanorobots, networked medical implants – coming soon to a clinic near you.