This focused issue presents a review and ten original research papers from renowned and internationally recognised research groups in the field, providing a useful resource for the community showing the state-of-the-art in photonic biofluid diagnostics and pointing towards the bright future in the clinical sphere.
The primary requirement for successful treatment of any disease is early detection. Rapid detection of disease has many benefits, including early intervention of therapy, reduction in mortality and morbidity and freeing much needed economic resources within healthcare systems.
Biofluids (e.g. urine and serum) provide an easily accessible, relatively non-invasive sample for analysis. In addition, organ and system linked biofluids (e.g. bile and cerebrospinal fluid) may provide the optimum sample to assess specific conditions. Biophotonic technologies, in particular vibrational spectroscopic techniques, are excellent methods for analysis of a wide range of materials, being non-destructive, simple-to-operate, cost-effective and requiring only simple sample preparation. Such technologies, as the research presented in this special issue evidence, offer the ability to revolutionise the clinical arena, providing a responsive diagnostic environment with associated declines in mortality and morbidity.
