# Optical Biosensors for Blood Coagulation Monitoring: Advantages, Limitations, and Translational Potential

## TL;DR

Optical biosensors offer a promising alternative for real-time blood coagulation monitoring, overcoming limitations of traditional methods.

## Contribution

The paper reviews recent advances in optical biosensors for coagulation and outlines strategies to improve their clinical translation.

## Key findings

- Optical biosensors provide label-free, rapid, and multi-level coagulation monitoring.
- Current translation barriers include lack of standardization and interference mitigation.
- Future improvements should focus on AI integration and miniaturization for point-of-care use.

## Abstract

Dynamic monitoring of hemostatic equilibrium is indispensable for clinical safety in high-risk scenarios, while current clinical methods are limited by sample volume, detection speed, and physiological relevance. These shortcomings underscore the demand for novel sensing platforms. Optical biosensors, leveraging label-free detection, rapid response, and multi-level characterization, could serve as a transformative solution for decentralized and point-of-care monitoring. This review systematically summarizes advances in optical coagulation testing, encompassing light transmission aggregometry, laser speckle rheology, optical coherence tomography/elastography, optic–acoustic coupled methods, and fluorescence biosensing. These technologies complementarily capture structural and mechanical and some molecular and cellular dynamics of coagulation, bridging gaps in traditional assays. Despite promising preclinical and clinical correlations, translation barriers persist in lack of standardization of metrics, interference mitigation, and multi-center validation in diverse patient cohorts. Future development of optical biosensing platforms for coagulation testing should focus on modular integration, AI-aided interference correction, and microfluidic miniaturization to realize actionable, real-time coagulation assessment. Optical biosensors hold unparalleled potential to transform hemostatic monitoring from static endpoint testing to dynamic, interpretable evaluation, guiding personalized clinical decisions.