Photonics for Bioapplications: Sensors and Technology—2nd Edition

A special issue of Biosensors (ISSN 2079-6374). This special issue belongs to the section "Optical and Photonic Biosensors".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 31 December 2025 | Viewed by 2003

Special Issue Editors


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Guest Editor
Department of Engineering, University of Campania Luigi Vanvitelli, Via Roma 29, 81031 Aversa, Italy
Interests: optical sensors; biosensors and chemical sensors; optical fiber sensors and optoelectronic devices
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Guest Editor
Department of Precision Medicine, University of Campania “Luigi Vanvitelli”, Naples, Italy
Interests: cell division cycle alterations; cyclin dependent kinase inhibitors; tumor suppressor genes; cancer; altered hypoxia response
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

The last decade has witnessed an increasing interest in the development of photonic systems for bioapplications, ranging from biological, biochemical, and environmental to biomedical and point-of-care instrumentations.

This Special Issue will focus on the current state of the art of photonic sensing systems for bioapplications, covering recent technological improvements, novel materials and bio-receptors, smart sensing bio-surfaces, emerging applications, innovative sensor configurations, and all the associated sensing instrumentations.

Both original research papers and review articles describing the current state of the art in this research field are welcome. We hope that this SI will provide you with an overview of the present state and future outlook of the aforementioned topics.

Yours faithfully,

Dr. Nélia Jordão Alberto
Dr. Maria de Fátima Domingues
Prof. Dr. Nunzio Cennamo
Prof. Dr. Adriana Borriello
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Biosensors is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2200 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • optical fiber biosensing
  • optical fiber immunosensors
  • new bio/chemical probes for bioapplications
  • molecular diagnosis
  • point-of-care devices
  • biomarker detection
  • wearable biomedical sensors
  • optical sensors in e-Health architectures
  • energy-efficient eHealth architecture
  • big data analysis for eHealth
  • plasmonic sensors and interrogation systems
  • advanced signal processing techniques
  • photonic integrated circuits (PICs) for bioapplications
  • imaging sensors
  • low-cost, miniaturized, selective, and multiparameter photonic devices

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Related Special Issue

Published Papers (4 papers)

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Research

10 pages, 1763 KiB  
Communication
Multi-Mode Coupling Enabled Broadband Coverage for Terahertz Biosensing Applications
by Dongyu Hu, Mengya Pan, Yanpeng Shi and Yifei Zhang
Biosensors 2025, 15(6), 368; https://doi.org/10.3390/bios15060368 - 7 Jun 2025
Viewed by 200
Abstract
Terahertz (THz) biosensing faces critical challenges in balancing high sensitivity and broadband spectral coverage, particularly under miniaturized device constraints. Conventional quasi-bound states in the continuum (QBIC) metasurfaces achieve high quality factor (Q) but suffer from narrow bandwidth, while angle-scanning strategies for broadband detection [...] Read more.
Terahertz (THz) biosensing faces critical challenges in balancing high sensitivity and broadband spectral coverage, particularly under miniaturized device constraints. Conventional quasi-bound states in the continuum (QBIC) metasurfaces achieve high quality factor (Q) but suffer from narrow bandwidth, while angle-scanning strategies for broadband detection require complex large-angle illumination. Here, we propose a symmetry-engineered, all-dielectric metasurface that leverages multipolar interference coupling to overcome this limitation. By introducing angular perturbation, the metasurface transforms the original magnetic dipole (MD)-dominated QBIC resonance into hybridized, multipolar modes. It arises from the interference coupling between MD, toroidal dipole (TD), and magnetic quadrupole (MQ). This mechanism induces dual counter-directional, frequency-shifted, resonance branches within angular variations below 16°, achieving simultaneous 0.42 THz broadband coverage and high Q of 499. Furthermore, a derived analytical model based on Maxwell equations and mode coupling theory rigorously validates the linear relationship between frequency splitting interval and incident angle with the Relative Root Mean Square Error (RRMSE) of 1.4% and the coefficient of determination (R2) of 0.99. This work establishes a paradigm for miniaturized THz biosensors, advancing applications in practical molecular diagnostics and multi-analyte screening. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Photonics for Bioapplications: Sensors and Technology—2nd Edition)
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12 pages, 2021 KiB  
Article
Probing the Influence of Specular Reflection and Overexposure on Backscattering Mueller Matrix Polarimetry for Tissue Imaging and Sensing
by Wei Jiao, Nan Zeng, Rui Hao, Hui Ma, Chao He and Honghui He
Biosensors 2025, 15(5), 333; https://doi.org/10.3390/bios15050333 - 21 May 2025
Viewed by 342
Abstract
Mueller matrix polarimetry has great potential for tissue detection and clinical diagnosis due to its ability to provide rich microstructural information accurately. However, in practical in vivo tissue imaging based on backscattering Mueller matrix polarimetry, specular reflection is often inevitable, leading to overexposed [...] Read more.
Mueller matrix polarimetry has great potential for tissue detection and clinical diagnosis due to its ability to provide rich microstructural information accurately. However, in practical in vivo tissue imaging based on backscattering Mueller matrix polarimetry, specular reflection is often inevitable, leading to overexposed regions and the following inaccurate polarization information acquisition of tissues. In this study, we probe the influence of specular reflection and overexposure on backscattering Mueller matrix polarimetry for tissue imaging and sensing. We investigate in detail the differentiation of polarization behaviors between the specular reflection and non-specular reflection tissue regions using a 3 × 3 backscattering Mueller matrix measurement. Then, we obtain the vertical projection profiles to further quantify the Mueller matrix elements of porcine liver tissue in different specular reflection regions. Finally, we calculate the polarization feature parameters derived from a 3 × 3 Mueller matrix and analyze their behavior in overexposed regions. Based on the quantitative analysis and comparisons, we obtain a group of polarization feature parameters with strong immunity to the specular reflection process. This study offers a strategy for selecting the polarization parameters during in vivo polarimetric imaging applications, provides valuable references for further eliminating the characterization errors induced by specular reflection, and may contribute to the advancement of quantitative tissue polarimetric imaging and sensing. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Photonics for Bioapplications: Sensors and Technology—2nd Edition)
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20 pages, 2497 KiB  
Article
White Light Spectroscopy Characteristics and Expansion Dynamic Behavior of Primary T-Cells: A Possibility of Online, Real-Time, and Sampling-Less CAR T-Cell Production Monitoring
by Bruno Wacogne, Maxime Brito, Clémentine Gamonet, Alain Rouleau and Annie Frelet-Barrand
Biosensors 2025, 15(4), 251; https://doi.org/10.3390/bios15040251 - 15 Apr 2025
Viewed by 320
Abstract
The production of advanced therapy medicinal products (ATMP) is a long and highly technical process, resulting in a high cost per dose, which reduces the number of eligible patients. There is a critical need for a closed and sample-free monitoring system to perform [...] Read more.
The production of advanced therapy medicinal products (ATMP) is a long and highly technical process, resulting in a high cost per dose, which reduces the number of eligible patients. There is a critical need for a closed and sample-free monitoring system to perform the numerous quality controls required. Current monitoring methods are not optimal, mainly because they require the system to be opened up for sampling and result in material losses. White light spectroscopy has emerged as a technique for sample-free control compatible with closed systems. We have recently proposed its use to monitor cultures of CEM-C1 cell lines. In this paper, we apply this method to T-cells isolated from healthy donor blood samples. The main differences between cell lines and human primary T-cells lie in the slightly different shape of their absorption spectra and in the dynamics of cell expansion. T-cells do not multiply exponentially, resulting in a non-constant generation time. Cell expansion is described by a power-law model, which allows for the definition of instantaneous generation times. A correlation between the linear asymptotic behavior of these generation times and the initial cell concentration leads to the hypothesis that this could be an early predictive marker of the final culture concentration. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first time that such concepts have been proposed. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Photonics for Bioapplications: Sensors and Technology—2nd Edition)
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32 pages, 6969 KiB  
Article
Colorimetric Analysis of Transmitted Light Through Plasmonic Paper for Next-Generation Point-of-Care (PoC) Devices
by Caterina Serafinelli, Alessandro Fantoni, Elisabete C. B. A. Alegria and Manuela Vieira
Biosensors 2025, 15(3), 144; https://doi.org/10.3390/bios15030144 - 24 Feb 2025
Viewed by 840
Abstract
This study identifies the optimal conditions for enhancing the performance of the Color Picker System, a device designed for colorimetric sensing using plasmonic paper. A simulation study was conducted toanalyze the transmittance spectra of plasmonic paper embedded in different mixtures, resulting in [...] Read more.
This study identifies the optimal conditions for enhancing the performance of the Color Picker System, a device designed for colorimetric sensing using plasmonic paper. A simulation study was conducted toanalyze the transmittance spectra of plasmonic paper embedded in different mixtures, resulting in a comprehensive color chart that includes the chromatic response as well as the RGB values of transmitted light. The filtering properties of the plasmonic paper were evaluated through colorimetric analysis, combining the transmittance characteristics with the spectrum of different light sources. Optimizing the correlation between these filtering properties and the light source enhances both sensitivity and precision. Arrays of nanoparticles with high absorbance, combined with Cold LED light sources, emerge as ideal components for the device set-up. Among the light sources tested, the White LED uniquely generates a red signal while producing the most significant variations in the green channel. In contrast, the Cold LED and Xenon Arc lamp produce the strongest colorimetric signals in the blue channel. This study provides a deep understanding of the filtering properties of plasmonic paper, opening a new way for the implementation of nanoparticle arrays in colorimetric sensing. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Photonics for Bioapplications: Sensors and Technology—2nd Edition)
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