Generally, tattooed people are proud to show their tattoos. However, there are times when they would prefer not to have them. At certain job interviews, when meeting that grandmother who thinks tattoos are typical of sailors or convicts or when the tattoo has the name of a person that should never be etched into your skin. There are really many reasons, these are just a few examples, but they can all be solved thanks to PhotoTat, the invisible tattoo ink that actually becomes visible when exposed to ultraviolet radiation.
Tattoos that are on and off. PhotoTat, the ink developed by scientists at the University of Colorado Boulder, is broadly composed of two components. On the one hand, some compounds are called photochromic substances. They have two molecular forms, one that is stable and one that they adopt when exposed to some form of light, usually ultraviolet. By changing their structure, they absorb different wavelengths. For example, they can go from clear to yellow. The second component of PhotoTat is polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA) spheres. It is a glass-like material often used in medical settings, for example in the development of bone cement and dermal fillers.
What these scientists did was to put three types of photochromic material into PMMA spheres, so they got three types of pigments: magenta, cyan, and yellow. Being primary colors, they can be combined to get different colors. But those colors were obtained only by exposing the spheres to ultraviolet light. Otherwise, they looked transparent, so a tattoo painted with them would be invisible.
Artificial leather gives better results. The first tests were done with artificial skin, with very promising results. PhotoTat tattoos are exposed to a very low dose of UV light, equivalent to about 10 seconds of sunlight, making them visible for hours. They disappear slowly, but can be erased almost automatically if exposed to an LED light. Ideal for job interviews or snacks at grandma’s house.
A guinea pig scientist. Once these tattoos have been proven to work on artificial skin, the next step is to see how they work on an animal’s skin. But these scientists did not want to use laboratory animals. That’s why one of them, Carson Bruns, decided to try it on his own body. He inked a fish scale tattoo that he already had on his leg and waited to see the results, which were pretty good, since there were no adverse effects and the ink continued and disappeared as desired as the two years passed until the study was published.
One person is not enough. Logically, a survey of a single individual is not representative at all. Therefore, this ink should be trialled with more people before reaching the market. Among them, only their effectiveness will not be verified. Its toxicity, sterility and purity will also be studied.
Much more than a job interview. The authors of this study emphasize that phototat applications go far beyond regrets or job interviews. Sometimes cancer patients get small tattoos before radiation therapy so doctors know where to direct the radiation beams. These are tattoos that are not chosen and besides, can bring back bad memories for those who wear them. Therefore, it would be ideal if they were only visible when doctors exposed them to a little ultraviolet light and the rest of the time they were hidden. This app makes phototat much more valuable.
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