Firefly Tattoos

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  • haha, are you sure you're even on the right forum?   maybe check out some tattoo shops in your area?
  • Has anyone put one of these or incorporated one into a tattoo? I think they'd make a cool glow in the dark eye for a tattoo though having an artist work around one would be a little nerve wracking if you did the firefly first. Has anyone with dark skin tried to get one done yet? If not then I guess I'll be the guinea pig.
  • I think that is what @saturn was getting at @BlackMagic.... I think meanderpaul has/is planing to try something like that so many ideas have come and gone in this thread....

    Sincerely,
    John Doe
  • I am planning on putting 2 into my tattoo. I'm hesitant due to the fact that it may not show through the ink that's there already and the fact that there has been a lot of people saying they migrate a lot.
  • Yeah, mine migrates like crazy. I've been manipulating it to get it where I want so it glows as much as possible. Things are still squishy, but it still likes to drift once stuff sets.
  • SurvivorSVN  as others have said, the glass is very strong (it's borosilicate, aka pyrex) , I've not heard of anyone breaking them implant. That said, with enough force it could be broken, there are three layers of glass, to release the tritium gas all three laters would have to break. If that were happen, the advice is the drink lots of water and head to a hospital to have it removed.

    Some people have talked about implanting under a tattoo, but I'm not sure if anyone has actually done it yet. Also to consider is that places such as the forearm has thicker skin, which make the Fireflies dimmer, so it will depend where your tattoo is. 

    As others have said, they too tend to migrate quite a bit to begin with, until they find a place to rest, so it may not stay under the tattoo in the correct spot. I'm planning to coat a future version in an anti-migration coating to stop them moving so much, but that will be a while before it's available. 
  • Mine just arrived yesterday, going to see an old piercer friend who split my tongue and cut a large scar on my back to see if he's willing to implant it. If successful, will post pictures.
  • Success! I can't see the glow through my skin yet, but we both found the procedure to be extremely straightforward. We ended up chatting for a bit about biohacking and implants, and he asked if I could add him to the wiki as a piercer/body modification artist, so I will do that!
    image
  • Awesome! I am still waiting on funds to head out to my piercer back where I grew up to implant mine.
  • Those who have one, I'm unable to see the slightest glow even in complete darkness. I'm hoping this is due to clotting. Did anybody else have a similar experience?
  • most people had the same issue. it usually corrected itself after swelling went away or any extra fluid.
  • I could see mine the same day I put it in, only in complete darkness. Now I can see it when I'm driving at night and such.
  • @autumn give it a few days . mine healed enough to be visible in the dark after about 4 days. it took about 3 or so weeks before it became easily visible in twilight and complete darkness...  one thing i noticed is that it really is not so much about the firefly being visible as much as it is about your eyes being accustomed to the darkness to see it ... but yeah , the more time after it heals , the better you'll see it.
  • How many people here have a yellow Firefly? Does anybody have both installed already? I want another one but can't decide on the colour.
  • I implanted two greens on the 21st June. I placed them on each side of rib cage below bra strap area. They can only just both be seen at same front on. I previously had some surface piercings in the same area which i removed when i took up triathlons, with all the movement they were migrating too much. I will be interested to see how the fire fly stands up. It took about four days to see anything due to swelling and bruising. I feared that i may have went too deep. They are not too deep, they both form a raised lump on my skin and a glowing well. I have purchased a pair of yellow and am planning on placing them alongside the green. I apologise i am a bit techno challenged and dont know how to provide pics.
  • edited July 2016
    @kjwx I have a green and yellow parallel in my left had, for a couple months so far, I would put the yellow at closer to 60% the brightness of the green due to the shortness, just my 2¢
  • 9 days post-procedure and I can easily see it in complete darkness if I give my eyes time to adjust. Interestingly my amateur astronomy has come in handy monitoring the progress, as day 5-6 I could only see it using averted vision.

    I have confidence it will get brighter with time, just as a snail's pace. My current theory is that as I'm on the heavier side, there is more tissue on top of the implant. If nothing else, it's possible I'm just a bleeder, and it's slow going for the clots to subside. My hand was very obviously swollen to my middle finger until Day 6, so that seems likely.
  • These things are so fun. Anyhow, I pulled mine out. I have other projects so I pulled out everything except my RFIDs as I actually use them often. Don't even have a mag in at the moment.

    These were actually harder to remove then I thought they'd be. They do not bind to tissue at all which is great.. but it almost seems like the skin above them thickens a bit. Point is.. If you want one out, you'll need to make a deep incision near the tip of one. Once you expose a tip it'll pop right out with ease.

    Also, despite being rather rough on my hands the tubes were in perfect condition and radiography was similar to what it was prior to implantation.
  • People have been implanting these for >6 months now and no one has died or reported serious issues. I think it's time to make V2.

    The only issues I've heard from people are:
    1: Too dim. A few people implanted in areas with thick skin which made the lights barely visible.
    2: Migration. Because the glass doesn't bond with tissue some people have had issues with the implant moving.

    I've been thinking about what I could do for version 2. Here are a couple of options I've got:

    option 1: flat version 3x5x18mm - this is similar in size to the current design but rather than being round, it is rectangular. The size of the tritium capsule is slightly over 2x of the current one. 
    option 2: bigger round - I could simply scale up the design, making the tube either 4 or 5mm diameter, this would make the light much brighter but would also make the implant not sit as flat under the skin.

    The flat one would only be possible in green, were as round could be done in a range of colors.

    Both of these designs would help with the dimness issue.
    A parylene coating at the ends would help with the migration issue.

    Which type do you want? a flat implant or a larger round one? 
  • I would vote for flat for exploration first! :D My only qualm being... Are the corners going to be rounded over at all? how 'rectangular' are we talking here, and what shape will the glow be under the skin... Would it be longer? wider? 

    Is there any way of seeing proportions drawn out at all? >~<


    And parylene would be nice to see, too!  ^^
  • yes, the corners would be rounded, the outer most coating looks like this:
    image

    Here is a rough diagram to show how the flat version would compare in size and shape to the current Fireflies:
    image
  • May I make one more suggestion relating to the flat ones?

    Since we now have a defined set of sides, which makes it extremely unlikely to flip, does the idea of coating the underside with a reflective coating to further increase and amplify brightness still exist? I recall it was mentioned as a possibility for the first generation. :3

    I would still personally vote for flat. ^^ But maybe having flat ones and first generation capsules would be advantageous?, if people wanted small ones? :o
  • edited July 2016
    Oh, yes, I forgot to mention the reflective side. You are right, if I go with the flat version one side of the inner capsule with have a reflective coating to reflect as much light as possible back out.


  • I'm thinking that it's going to be prettttttty bright with a reflective layer and a higher mass. $_$

    Last question: Does this remove the ability to inject? :S My native guess is a big 'Yes', but would like to get a for sure. :d
  • Yeah, sadly it would no longer fit in a needle, but that is going to be the case for both the flat and larger round version :(

    It will require a slightly more difficult procedure to implant... but I don't see a way to avoid this while still making the improvements. 
  • I'd say get other feedback, but Personally, my vote is for flat. The flat one seems to make the most sense, especially if the new round one can't be injected. X_X


  • Agreed. I think the flat design would be optimal. Sounds pretty awesome actually. Something to consider is the tensile strength of the flat tubes though. It seems like these would break far more easily.

    Of course, the small tubes intuitively seem like they'd break easily as well and we know that this isn't the case.. but it's something to consider.
  • http://www.ebay.com/itm/like/321979924729?lpid=82&chn=ps&ul_noapp=true

    Something like this would be useful so we could quantify the strength of implants and materials. I might pick one up myself.
  • edited July 2016
    Cassox  true, a cylinder will be less likely to break. However I think it will probably be ok. Because of available sizes, the first Fireflies actually had small gaps of air between each layer. The flat one will make better use of the space which means the borosilcate outer layer will be 0.5mm thick, rather than the 0.2mm of the current design. I think he will stand out to force pretty well, but having a machine like that would be really useful to get actual readings.

    If you do get one of those machines please let me know so I can send you implants to test.
  • Yeah. I probably will in a paycheck or two. Also, one of the new resins I'm trialing is really soft and flexible as well as biocompatible. You might consider a fill between the layers. It would make the unit react to a crushing blow more like safety glass and probably spare the inner glass.
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