New tattoo ink may improve treatment for skin cancer patients

Researchers have developed a new tattoo ink that glows only under certain light conditions and disappears later.

It can better help in surgical treatment of patients with a form of skin cancer much more than the commercially available tattoo pigments.

Tattoos may not be just for body art, but are also used by the medical community for precisely demarcating future treatment landmarks.

This is especially important for identifying biopsy sites of nonmelanoma skin cancer (NMSC) patients as they typically have to wait up to three months between a biopsy confirming their condition and treatment.

However, the commercially available tattoo pigments inks can cause discomfort and inflammation.

The new ink developed by researchers led by Kai Chen University of Southern California is time-limited.

Under ambient lighting, the nanoparticles are invisible, which would avoid unwanted markings in a patient's skin, and is a safer, more patient-friendly option.

Testing in mice showed that tattoos created with these nanoparticles did not cause inflammation and lasted for three months.

The study was published in the journal ACS Nano.