iPhones Can Read Tattoo Ink For Medical Info 55
An anonymous reader writes "Researchers at Northeastern University have modified an iPhone to take readings from a special fluorescing nanoparticle tattoo ink, which can then measure sodium and glucose levels in the blood."
So if I'm reading this right ... (Score:1)
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Well, when they're tattooed with special fluorescing nanoparticle ink they do
Not Iphone (Score:3, Insightful)
The Iphone doesn't actually do any of the work. The ink senses the chemical levels, and the LED's and filters read it off the ink. The only work being done is by the camera, which isn't really unique to the iphone.
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I am so sick to death of damn near every mobile tech researcher and every media outlet of any form tying everything to the frikkin' iPhone for no damn good reason. I'm waiting for the headline that says, "iPhone wins Indy 500" just because some driver forgot to take his phone out of his pocket before taking off.
What do they think, that Steve Jobs will reward them with a free iPhone? Or is it that they all fell for the marketing
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> Naturally, no one would admit to such. It would confirm that they were wrong and create more intolerable cognitive dissonance.
Admitting such a thing would be possible only for someone who was not in the first place a candidate to get caught in this marketing ploy. I call this iCatch-22.
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A) Boy, your arms must be full!
B) You seriously need to start using protection!
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I'd argue that it's simply the fact that iPhone-using kiddies are very vocal about it, and will vote for anything with iPhone in it. And/or "timothy" is in the above group.
I mean... I know *plenty* of interesting stuff done with other devices -- Like the N900 for example -- but it just wouldn't reach the same level of publicity. It'd be like "We just created this great tool to read tattool ink!" "So? You just threw together a few OSS libraries anddid some processing. Big deal?"
But on the IPhone... I guess i
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When it comes to technology, most people are 'kiddies'. They just want something that works and it easy to use. They follow the script like any kiddie. Most people what something that works and does something useful - they're not interested in how it works.
An iPhone app that can read the ink is special to them because it's available and works.
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But the same point could be made for Android phones, and they're more ubiquitous.
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I am so sick to death of damn near every mobile tech researcher and every media outlet of any form tying everything to the frikkin' iPhone for no damn good reason.
If you need publicity and you can't figure out a way to make your product fight terrorists or pedophiles, then go with an iphone app.
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I can think of two, very good reasons:
1. Brand recognition. The iPhone name is huge, and instantly recognizable, especially as the "cool, slick, hip" thing it has been marketed as. Saying "Smartphones can read tattoo ink" is boring and "Charges can read tattoo ink" can be confusing.
2. News people are here to attract you. No matter what your opinion of the phones themselves may be, there's no denying that iPhone breeds more interest than any other.
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I can think of two, very good reasons:
1. Brand recognition. The iPhone name is huge, and instantly recognizable, especially as the "cool, slick, hip" thing it has been marketed as. Saying "Smartphones can read tattoo ink" is boring and "Charges can read tattoo ink" can be confusing. 2. News people are here to attract you. No matter what your opinion of the phones themselves may be, there's no denying that iPhone breeds more interest than any other.
I call fan-boy on that one. It is not the job of a journalist to achieve or play to "brand recognition." That is, unless all that "journalist" cares about is page hits. The terms "camera phone" and "smart phone" are also instantly recognizable, especially among the potential target audience of such articles. Your sample alternative headlines are obvious straw-men in that they are intentionally devised to appear boring, confusing, and inconsequential. Much more appropriate headlines could easily have been ch
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So if the article title was changed to "Android phones can read tattoo ink for medical info" the same argument can be said?
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uhhhhhh how do camera's work without a camera app?
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I think the message was that this application can be done with any cellphone.
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Why not just get a QR code tattooed on you?
Good news (Score:3)
This could be a boon to those that have to do the finger sticks. Also useful for those that are borderline diabetic, or hypoglycemic.
Even without the iPhone, this is really cool (Score:5, Interesting)
This is a really cool idea.
The iPhone part is a bit of a sensationalist gimmick, but it is a quick and dirty development environment for handheld image capture and processing. Just add the LED array for the specific light frequencies needed.
The real story I think is the specialized ink tattoos that can change based on the presence (or lack thereof) of certain chemicals in the bloodstream. While it sounds like a fairly permanent solution, it could be a real blessing for long-term patients that need frequent blood tests. Gives healthcare professionals, as well as the patient, an easy way to monitor conditions without having to draw blood.
Re:Even without the iPhone, this is really cool (Score:4, Insightful)
It they can do that why cant they do something more useful like make the change visual. Tattoo goes red you're in trouble with no need to keep
taking pictures of your arm every time. As simple as checking your watch.
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Because human eyes are not precision instruments.
A camera measurable change under certain very specified LED lights (possibly only detectable in the dark) is relatively easy (and would not be that striking) compared to a dye which absorbed something prevalent in visible light to a very high level emitting a dramatically different light wavelength as a result and changing form active to inactive in a fairly narrow range of concentrations.
Consider that the first could be read by something like a light sensor
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It they can do that why cant they do something more useful like make the change visual.
Maybe they're restricted by physics and chemistry? Just because they found one substance that emits certain wavelengths, that doesn't mean they instantly know what substances could emit any given wavelength under any given conditions.
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Please, please! Make a tattoo ink that fluoresces in the presence of birth control. And tattoo all the women with the word "SAFE" on their forehead, visible when they walk in the bar under a black light.
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iPhone plug notwithstanding (Score:1)
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We were never at war with IBM.
Level or threshold? (Score:3)
According to TFA, the ink fluoresces in proportion to the level of chemical in the bloodstream. Wouldn't an ink (or series of inks) that begin to fluoresce at a set of levels be better? You would remove the attenuating effect of skin and losses in the illumination/sensor light path. Different skin patches would be tattooed with different level sensitive inks and the result would be a pattern that would encode the bloodstream level. The reading s/w would be dirt simple (possibly even read with an LED flashlight/filter combo and the naked eye). a two dimensional tattoo could encode a number of parameters, include some registration patterns with ink that always fluoresces to mark pattern corners.
Tattoo (Score:3)
666 (Score:2)
Why come you got no tattoo?
I can give about six hundred sixty-six reasons.
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Because I agree with Weird Al?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BF6ct9ZEq5s [youtube.com]
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UNSCANNABLE
Divers dream! (Score:1)
This would be great for scuba divers
No more guessing your oxygen and nitrogen levels !!!!
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Not just divers.
Body builders, or anyone looking to keep tabs on some process in their body that is conducive to this sort of measurement. Hell, people trying to lose weight, adjust their diet. Women looking to track their fertility, either to bring about or prevent pregnancy... perhaps anyone on birth control?
It is a nice new tool, something so often hard to do, now could become relatively easy and portable. It still remains to be seen what is actually practical... but... it has a lot of potential.
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Well every technology has a dark side. The same gun that can drop your dinner, can be used to threaten your life. The same medical knowledge that can keep you alive through sickness, can keep you alive and awake for extended torture sessions.
ahh (Score:1)