Coming next! Bioactive inks that monitor body and environment by changing colour

06 July 2020: Researchers at the US based Tufts University’s School of Engineering (TUSE) have developed a revolutionary biomaterial-based inks. The ink can be screen printed onto wearable textiles, which respond to and quantify chemicals released from the body, such as sweat, or in the surrounding environment by changing colour.

The bio-inks can be screen printed on textiles such as clothes, shoes and face masks in complex patterns and at high resolution, to provide a detailed map of human response or exposure.

Announcing the newly developed ink, Fiorenzo Omenetto, Professor of Engineering at TUSE, Massachusetts, said: “The use of novel bioactive inks with the method of screen printing opens up promising opportunities for the mass-production of soft, wearable fabrics with large numbers of sensors that could be applied to detect a range of conditions. The fabrics can end up in uniforms for the workplace, sports clothing, or even on furniture and architectural structures.”