Bioresorbable tags for monitoring deep tissue homeostasis

A method of real-time monitoring of homeostasis in tissue of a subject, comprising:

• attaching at least one tag onto at least one surface of the tissue, wherein the at least one tag comprises:
• a soft, shape-adaptive matrix member that undergoes dimensional changes upon interactions with its surrounding biofluid environment by amounts that depend on a local parameter of interest around the tissue;
• and
• a plurality of markers embedded in the soft, shape-adaptive matrix member such that the dimensional changes of the soft, shape-adaptive matrix member lead to changes in spacings between the markers;
• acquiring images of the plurality of markers;
• and
• determining the changes in the spacings between the markers from the acquired images, thereby determining changes in the surrounding biofluid environment and real-time monitoring of homeostasis in the tissue.