Imagine wearing a temporary tattoo instead of taking a handful of pills every day.

Research is underway on nanomesh technology as a diagnostic and drug delivery tool.

Scientists at the Institute for Basic Science and Seoul National University in South Korea, the University of Texas at Austin, the University of Tokyo, Stanford, and the University of California-San Diego are all working on electronic second skins. Lexington, Massachusetts-based MC10 has already created microscopic, organic semiconductors and carbon nanotubes that stretch and flex and can be powered wirelessly.

Called BioStampRC, the sensors are far thicker than a tattooable, but the principle is the same, and it’s only a matter of time before the technology shrinks.