I, Robot may have a new meaning in the 2020s if programmable dermal displaysimplantable nanomedical systems for the human bodybecome a mainstay for medical monitoring and record-keeping. First presented by Robert A. Freitas, Jr., in his book Nanomedicine, Volume 1: Basic Capabilities, dermal displays use embedded data screens visible on the back of the hand, which are activated by three billion display nano-robots underneath the skin.
The displays would switch on by touch and connect the patient with billions of fixed and mobile nanobots monitoring vital signs and physiological parameters throughout the body, says Freitas. "Patients will be able to check their own medical condition any time of day or night, wherever they may be, in great detail, without the need to visit a doctor or a testing lab." When turned off, display nanobots emit no light and the skin has its normal pigment. When turned on, they emit photons, creating a display visible through the uppermost layer of skin.
Freitas adds that the data would be "enormous in quantity, intricately detailed, and updated as the patient wishes," stored within data nodes in the patient's body.
The displays would draw power from a patient's glucose supplies.