Painless, blood-free tattoos can be achieved using this new technique

Mark Prausnitz, principal investigator on the study, said: “This could be a way not only to make medical tattoos more accessible, but also to create new opportunities for cosmetic tattoos because of the ease of administration.”

The press-on microneedle patches offer a painless alternative to the large needles that repeatedly puncture the skin to create tattoos of various shapes and sizes.

Conventional tattooing is a time-consuming process, while the tattoo patch can be self-administered.

The needles on the newly created tattoo patch are essentially tattoo ink encased in a dissolvable matrix.  They are are smaller than a grain of sand.

The microneedles dissolve after being pressed on to the skin for a few minutes. That way, the ink can penetrate the skin and there is no pain or bleeding.

“Because the microneedles are made of tattoo ink, they deposit the ink in the skin very efficiently,” Song Li, the study's lead author, said.

Tattoos created using the patches are likely to be permanent but they can also be modified to create short-term impressions.

The creators of the new technique said they don't intend to replace the works of tattoo artists.

“Our goal is to create new opportunities for patients, pets, and people who want a painless tattoo that can be easily administered," they said.

Scientists have also tailored some tattoo patches in a way that they only appear in certain environmental conditions like higher temperatures and ultraviolet light.

The purpose of this is to reveal tattoos only when needed, in order to protect patients' privacy.