Sticker to see inside your body

Ultrasound machines are typically bulky, expensive, and only available in a healthcare setting, where a trained technician will press an ultrasound wand onto a patient’s skin after applying a gel that helps with the transmission of the waves.

MIT researchers have created a stamp-sized ultrasound sticker that can continuously monitor a person’s organs and tissues for up to 48 hours — potentially making ultrasound imaging as accessible and easy to use as Band-Aids. Researchers plan to make the technology available to consumers via a phone app, who could monitor their hearts, muscles, and pregnancies on demand.

The stamp-sized ultrasound sticker capable of producing high-resolution images of blood vessels and deeper organs.

The device features a rigid array of transducers that produce the ultrasound waves and record their reflection. It is attached to two thin layers of a rubbery material called an “elastomer” prevents dehydration of hydrogel. Between them is sandwiched a solid hydrogel that does the job of the ultrasound gel.