The latest medical devices are “electronic tattoos.” They’re also called “biostamps,” and they may be on track to replace everything from heart pacemakers, to metal electrodes that are used to monitor brain seizures.

Biostamps are as thin and flexible as a sticker, and they’re so soft and pliable that they adapt to your body, instead of making your body adapt to them. They can be placed anywhere on your skin, like a tattoo, or placed under your skin. They contain electronics that can monitor diseases, detect changes in your body, or just keep tabs on your vital signs.

They could also work as an early warning system for sports, and alert you to changes in performance or motion. For example, if your kid plays contact sports, it could accurately gauge the force of impact to their head and immediately determine if they have a concussion. Researchers also say that biostamps could be surgically implanted in your heart, and sync up with your smart phone to provide doctors with up-to-the-minute results of irregular heartbeats. Or be implanted in your brain to monitor seizures.

Biostamps are still in the research phase. We’ll keep you posted on the progress, but pretty soon, we may all have electronic medical tattoos.