Bioresorbable Photonics: Materials, Devices and Applications

Abstract

Bio-photonic devices that utilize the interaction between light and biological substances have been emerging as an important tool for clinical diagnosis and/or therapy. At the same time, implanted biodegradable photonic devices can be disintegrated and resorbed after a predefined operational period, thus avoiding the risk and cost associated with the secondary surgical extraction. In this paper, the recent progress on biodegradable photonics is reviewed, with a focus on material strategies, device architectures and their biomedical applications. We begin with a brief introduction of biodegradable photonics, followed by the material strategies for constructing biodegradable photonic devices. Then, various types of biodegradable photonic devices with different functionalities are described. After that, several demonstration examples for applications in intracranial pressure monitoring, biochemical sensing and drug delivery are presented, revealing the great potential of biodegradable photonics in the monitoring of human health status and the treatment of human diseases. We then conclude with the summary of this field, as well as current challenges and possible future directions.

Expedient secondary functions of flexible piezoelectrics for biomedical energy harvesting

“…Photovoltaic cells have long found success in harvesting abundant solar energy with relatively higher energy efficiency than other energy harvesting systems [ [229] , [230] , [231] , [232] ], and their applications in biomedical settings have been reported to produce substantial energy to power most wearable biomedical devices [ 233 ]. In terms of biomedical implants, biocompatible and even bioresorbable photovoltaic cells [ 234 ] can serve as implantable subdermal energy generators producing higher output than PEG (100–200 μW mm −2 than PEG's 0.4–30 μW mm −2 [ 235 ]). Therefore, integrating photovoltaic materials with PEG is promising to compensate for the low and unstable power output from solely PEG, while PEG can compensate for solar cell's energy shortage under poorly light-accessible conditions (e.g., rainy days or dark environments) by harvesting mechanical energy, which collectively contribute to the continuous energy output of hybrid energy harvester.…”

Fabrication and biocompatibility analysis of flexible organic light emitting diodes on poly(lactic acid) substrates: toward the development of greener bio‐electronic devices

“…Among all types of electronic devices having different functionalities, photonic devices are becoming a very powerful tool for the healthcare monitoring and therapy by exploiting the interaction between the biological systems and the light. 9 Additionally, solid state lighting devices in particular show multiple applications in the field of photodynamic therapy, optogenetic, sensing, as well as wearable displays. 10 A very promising solid-state lighting technology is represented by the organic light emitting diode (OLED) one, since it combines excellent properties in terms of luminous efficiency and intrinsic characteristics of organic materials.…”

“…Among all types of electronic devices having different functionalities, photonic devices are becoming a very powerful tool for the healthcare monitoring and therapy by exploiting the interaction between the biological systems and the light 9 . Additionally, solid state lighting devices in particular show multiple applications in the field of photodynamic therapy, optogenetic, sensing, as well as wearable displays 10 .…”

High‐Chroma Color Coatings Based on Ag/SiO2/Ti/SiO2 Structures

“…[5] Structures incorporating phase-change materials can allow active tunable colors, which is promising in technologies such as low-powered displays. [6][7][8] One common approach to color control is to use a thin-film coating incorporating metal-dielectric-metal (MDM) or metalinsulator-metal (MIM) stacks. [9][10][11][12] Analogous to a Fabry-Perot cavity, the upper and lower metallic layers act as mirrors surrounding a central cavity where light oscillates.…”

“…[ 5 ] Structures incorporating phase‐change materials can allow active tunable colors, which is promising in technologies such as low‐powered displays. [ 6–8 ]…”