News Neuroscience

Electronic ‘tattoos’ offer an alternative to electrodes for brain monitoring

A spray-on ink detects electrical activity in the brain for hours

A man's scalp with several dots of ink sprayed on and lines of ink connecting the dots to wires taped to his neck.

Spray-on electrodes go on wet. Once dry, they can detect brain activity about as well as standard electrodes used in a common medical test, researchers find.

Nanshu Lu

By Laura Sanders

It’s an unusual aesthetic, but it works: Spray-on tattoos that dot the head can collect brain activity without the consternation caused by typical tests. The electronic tattoos, described December 2 in Cell Biomaterials, go on with a microjet printer, last for hours and wipe off with soapy water.