The ancient Egyptian blue pigment, one of the most famous pigments in the world, may be used by doctors to see through your skin in the future.
Egyptian blue was created in ancient Egypt about 4,500-years-ago by combining calcium carbonate, copper-containing metal, and a lot of sand in a very hot fire. The formula to make the compound is very exact, making it difficult – even with today's technology – to create the pigment, reported io9.
The pigment compound from Egypt was used widely to resist fading in the ancient civilization, as well as other civilizations around it. Historians used the pigment to tell what places were in contact with Egypt during ancient times, reported io9.
Today the pigment is used by archaeologists who are working to determine what kind of pigment coated items, such as a statue, from a long time ago after they discovered the pigment gives off infrared when hit with visible red light.
Researchers believe that this quality of the pigment will be used by doctors in the future to scan a person's body at a low cost.
The Egyptian blue pigment emits penetrates flesh more deeply than those used today - minus the damage, reported io9.
To use the pigment for a patient's body scan by separating the pigment into small sheets by stirring the pigment gently in warm water for a few days, reported io9. The sheets only need to be the size of a human hair so this nearly 5,000-year-old pigment has the potential to be a very cheap, very accurate piece of medical technology.
