University of Texas at Austin/Texas A&M University

Getting a new tattoo isn't only about looking cool (or making a decision you'll regret years later)—it could also save your life. At least, that's the idea behind a new electronic tattoo that can continuously and unobtrusively measure your blood pressure.

In a paper published Monday in the journal Nature Nanotechnology, a team from the University of Texas at Austin and Texas A&M University developed a device that can attach to the skin of the wrist and be worn comfortably for up to 24 hours. It can continuously monitor blood pressure with incredible accuracy potentially helping diagnose arising issues and inform the treatment of patients with serious heart conditions. Researchers hope that it will pave the way for a blood pressure monitor that doesn't require a cuff device like a traditional armband.

"Blood pressure is an important metric," Roozbeh Jafari, a professor of biomedical engineering at Texas A&M and co-author of the study, told The Daily Beast. "It gives us a holistic view of the entire cardiovascular system. But if you want to measure it, just one or a few measurements a day isn't enough, and cuff-based solutions are inconvenient, uncomfortable, and impractical.

In fact, when it comes to the world of blood pressure monitoring, having a cuffless device is the "holy grail," Jafari said. That's because cuffed devices are often uncomfortable to wear, and heart monitoring products like smartwatches also tend to move around the wrist too much to be able to provide accurate data.

That's why the Texas team turned to graphene—a material similar to graphite pencils—to create a tattoo that can be applied directly over a person's arteries in their wrists. Not only is it incredibly durable, but it's also the thinnest material in the world. This makes it perfect to be used in an e-tattoo as it allows the wearer to not even feel it on their skin.

It's also applied exactly like a temporary tattoo: A piece of paper is placed over the spot on your wrist, which is then dabbed with a small amount of water. After a few seconds, the paper is removed, and voila—you have a slick new cyberpunk tattoo. Unfortunately, though, it's not quite enough to measure your heart rate yet.