Infrared photonics for healthcare: A roadmap for proactive and predictive health management

TL;DR

This paper reviews recent advances in infrared photonics for healthcare, emphasizing device innovations, integration into miniaturized sensors, and the challenges in standardization and clinical adoption for diagnostics and therapy.

Contribution

It provides a comprehensive roadmap highlighting technological developments, current limitations, and future directions for IR photonics in medical diagnostics and treatment.

Findings

Advances in novel IR sensing devices and measurement techniques.

Development of miniaturized PIC-based IR sensors for point-of-care use.

Existence of major roadblocks like standardization and clinical validation.

Abstract

The field of infrared (IR) photonics is currently undergoing remarkable progress, moving rapidly towards practical sensing applications demanded by medical therapy and diagnostics (theranostics). The Developments can be divided into three main categories: (i) novel devices and measurement concepts including advanced updates of classical approaches that push medical sensing into the spotlight; (ii) new demonstrations of photonic integrated circuit (PIC-)based IR devices enabling highly miniaturized sensors for point-of-care application as well as medical and wellness wearables; and (iii) technologically-mature IR demonstrators that enable first medical sensing and treatment applications. This roadmap paper provides a consolidated overview of this highly dynamic and interdisciplinary research field with a focus on the major roadblocks that limit the widespread adoption of IR photonics in large-scale medical diagnostics. Special attention is given to the ambivalence between the molecular-level spectroscopic interpretation and a broader health-state assessment, highlighting the need for a common framework. Additionally, the paper discusses the critical importance of unified measurement standards, calibration protocols, and medical certification processes to ensure the validity of experimental results, reproducibility, and clinical trust, particularly when novel experimental techniques and AI algorithms are involved. Perspectives from major past and current contributors to application-oriented IR photonics will be provided.