Biophotonics Research Awards: Illuminating the Future of Science and Medicine

Biophotonics stands at the crossroads of light and life, transforming the way we observe, diagnose, and treat biological systems. By harnessing the interaction between photons and living matter, biophotonics research is unlocking powerful tools for healthcare, environmental monitoring, and advanced scientific discovery.

The Biophotonics Research Awards celebrate outstanding researchers, innovators, and interdisciplinary teams who are advancing this rapidly evolving field. These awards recognize excellence in areas such as biomedical imaging, optical diagnostics, laser-based therapies, biosensing technologies, and light-driven biological analysis.

From non-invasive cancer detection and real-time cellular imaging to neural photostimulation and wearable optical sensors, biophotonics continues to redefine precision, safety, and efficiency in modern science. Award recipients exemplify scientific rigor, originality, and real-world impact—bridging fundamental research with clinical and industrial applications.

By honoring visionary contributions, the Biophotonics Research Awards aim to inspire global collaboration, accelerate innovation, and shine a light on research that improves lives and shapes the future of medicine and technology.

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Internationally Renowned Tyndall Biophotonics Researcher Secures Award to Develop New Medical Diagnostics and Treatment Tools

 Professor Stefan Andersson-Engels has been awarded €5.3 million through the SFI Research Professorship Programme, which will underpin the Biophotonics Group at Tyndall National Institute for the next five years. The funding will be used to advance the fundamental understanding of biophotonics science, the application of light-based technologies to life sciences and medicine.

This award will foster the development of new diagnostic and guidance tools to meet proven clinical needs. These will be implemented in the clinical setting of neonatology, neurosurgery, orthopaedics, and the GI tract, as well as oral cancer screening, and will be guided by 20 clinical and pre-clinical collaborators.

The objectives of the award are to provide better healthcare and outcomes for patients, and to grow economic activity through the commercialisation of the resulting technologies. This will be achieved through partnerships with existing MedTech companies. Professor Andersson-Engels and his team have already created two start-up companies since the formation of the Biophotonics Group in 2016, one of which was in partnership with the National Cancer Centre in the Netherlands. The team has also transferred technologies to companies in the areas of cancer boundary detection and the monitoring of babies during childbirth.

The objective of Professor Andersson-Engels’ project is to use the unique properties of light, a safe, non-invasive method for humans that can accurately detect specific cells, for diagnostic purposes such as gastrointestinal diagnostics for malignancies and inflammatory bowel diseases, in-vivo oral cancer delineation and diagnosis. As light can only penetrate short distances into tissue, Professor Andersson-Engels will seek to address this challenge, and aim to facilitate light-based diagnostics and therapy deep inside the body, permitting use for many more diseases.

Commenting on the award, Professor Andersson-Engels said: “I am delighted to be continuing our important work with the talented team across Tyndall, UCC, and IPIC. With the medical devices sector in Ireland recognised as one of the five emerging global hubs, it is an exciting time for the Biophotonics Group to forge close collaborations with companies, clinicians and research centres for the faster development and deployment of more accurate, less invasive diagnostic treatment methods for cancer and other diseases.”

Professor Andersson-Engels has an impressive track record, receiving several prizes for his research achievements, and his work on the development and commercialisation of technology has been critical to ensuring that patients will benefit from the results of scientific research. His pioneering work in the area of ALA-PDT (Photodynamic therapy) using the topical application of aminolevulinic acid (ALA), a photosensitizing agent for the treatment of non–melanoma skin cancer is currently one of the first lines of treatment at most skin cancer clinics around the world.

Welcoming the announcement, Deputy Director General of Science Foundation Ireland, Dr Ciarán Seoighe, said: “Recruiting and retaining world-leading scientific talent to Ireland is a key priority for SFI in partnership with our higher education institutions. Professor Andersson-Engels’ exceptional international track record will help to drive Ireland’s position at the forefront of photonics research. His work will contribute to improving the health and wellbeing of people by the invention and application of new technologies, as well as boosting industry engagement. We wish him every success with his research programme.” 

Surgical Oncologist, Head of Medical Affairs and Research, Centre for Early Cancer Detection at The Netherlands Cancer Institute, Professor Theo Ruers said: “We at The Netherlands Cancer Institute, have established a very strong and fruitful collaboration with the Biophotonics@Tyndall team over the last few years throughout the first phase of the Professorship Award.  Our complementary skill sets have led to a spin-off company, multiple publications, and patents as well as collectively attracting EU and Health Holland funding.  This collaboration is a win-win for both parties, and we expect the coming phase to be even more productive and impactful.”

Director of IPIC, the SFI Research Centre for Photonics, Professor Paul Townsend concluded: “This award further strengthens IPIC’s outstanding research team by providing the scientific vision and knowledge to steer existing photonic device integration towards innovative new applications in the biomedical areas. Furthermore, by continuing this world-class biophotonics research programme at IPIC and Tyndall, we can underpin strong collaborative partnerships with other Science Foundation Ireland Research Centres, such as APC, through projects that will present huge opportunities at a global level and again raise Ireland’s research credentials in the biomedical space.”

This award will foster the development of new diagnostic and guidance tools to meet proven clinical needs. These will be implemented in the clinical setting of neonatology, neurosurgery, orthopaedics, and the GI tract, as well as oral cancer screening, and will be guided by 20 clinical and pre-clinical collaborators.

The objectives of the award are to provide better healthcare and outcomes for patients, and to grow economic activity through the commercialisation of the resulting technologies. This will be achieved through partnerships with existing MedTech companies. Professor Andersson-Engels and his team have already created two start-up companies since the formation of the Biophotonics Group in 2016, one of which was in partnership with the National Cancer Centre in the Netherlands. The team has also transferred technologies to companies in the areas of cancer boundary detection and the monitoring of babies during childbirth.

The objective of Professor Andersson-Engels’ project is to use the unique properties of light, a safe, non-invasive method for humans that can accurately detect specific cells, for diagnostic purposes such as gastrointestinal diagnostics for malignancies and inflammatory bowel diseases, in-vivo oral cancer delineation and diagnosis. As light can only penetrate short distances into tissue, Professor Andersson-Engels will seek to address this challenge, and aim to facilitate light-based diagnostics and therapy deep inside the body, permitting use for many more diseases.

Commenting on the award, Professor Andersson-Engels said: “I am delighted to be continuing our important work with the talented team across Tyndall, UCC, and IPIC. With the medical devices sector in Ireland recognised as one of the five emerging global hubs, it is an exciting time for the Biophotonics Group to forge close collaborations with companies, clinicians and research centres for the faster development and deployment of more accurate, less invasive diagnostic treatment methods for cancer and other diseases.”

Professor Andersson-Engels has an impressive track record, receiving several prizes for his research achievements, and his work on the development and commercialisation of technology has been critical to ensuring that patients will benefit from the results of scientific research. His pioneering work in the area of ALA-PDT (Photodynamic therapy) using the topical application of aminolevulinic acid (ALA), a photosensitizing agent for the treatment of non–melanoma skin cancer is currently one of the first lines of treatment at most skin cancer clinics around the world.

Welcoming the announcement, Deputy Director General of Science Foundation Ireland, Dr Ciarán Seoighe, said: “Recruiting and retaining world-leading scientific talent to Ireland is a key priority for SFI in partnership with our higher education institutions. Professor Andersson-Engels’ exceptional international track record will help to drive Ireland’s position at the forefront of photonics research. His work will contribute to improving the health and wellbeing of people by the invention and application of new technologies, as well as boosting industry engagement. We wish him every success with his research programme.” 

Surgical Oncologist, Head of Medical Affairs and Research, Centre for Early Cancer Detection at The Netherlands Cancer Institute, Professor Theo Ruers said: “We at The Netherlands Cancer Institute, have established a very strong and fruitful collaboration with the Biophotonics@Tyndall team over the last few years throughout the first phase of the Professorship Award.  Our complementary skill sets have led to a spin-off company, multiple publications, and patents as well as collectively attracting EU and Health Holland funding.  This collaboration is a win-win for both parties, and we expect the coming phase to be even more productive and impactful.”

Director of IPIC, the SFI Research Centre for Photonics, Professor Paul Townsend concluded: “This award further strengthens IPIC’s outstanding research team by providing the scientific vision and knowledge to steer existing photonic device integration towards innovative new applications in the biomedical areas. Furthermore, by continuing this world-class biophotonics research programme at IPIC and Tyndall, we can underpin strong collaborative partnerships with other Science Foundation Ireland Research Centres – including INFANT and APC – through projects that will present huge opportunities at a global level and again raise Ireland’s research credentials in the biomedical space.”

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Biophotonics Research: Illuminating Life Through Light-Based Science

 Introduction

Biophotonics research is a rapidly advancing interdisciplinary field that explores the interaction between light and biological systems. By combining principles from physics, biology, engineering, and medicine, biophotonics enables groundbreaking innovations in medical diagnostics, imaging, and therapy. From detecting diseases at their earliest stages to guiding precision treatments, biophotonics is reshaping the future of healthcare and life sciences.

What Is Biophotonics?

Biophotonics focuses on the generation, manipulation, and detection of light to study biological materials—from single molecules and cells to complex tissues and organs. Unlike conventional techniques, light-based methods are often non-invasive, highly sensitive, and capable of real-time analysis.

Key light sources used in biophotonics include lasers, LEDs, and fluorescence-based systems, while detection methods range from optical sensors to advanced imaging platforms.

Key Areas of Biophotonics Research

🔍 Biomedical Imaging

Techniques such as fluorescence microscopy, optical coherence tomography (OCT), and multiphoton imaging allow researchers and clinicians to visualize biological structures with extraordinary resolution—often without damaging living tissue.

🧬 Optical Biosensing

Biophotonic sensors can detect minute biological changes, enabling early diagnosis of cancer, infectious diseases, and metabolic disorders through light–matter interactions.

💡 Phototherapy and Light-Based Treatments

From photodynamic therapy for cancer to laser-based surgeries and wound healing, biophotonics supports targeted, minimally invasive medical treatments with improved patient outcomes.

🧪 Cellular and Molecular Analysis

Biophotonics tools help scientists study protein interactions, gene expression, and cellular dynamics at the nanoscale, driving discoveries in molecular biology and biotechnology.

Why Biophotonics Matters

Biophotonics research plays a critical role in advancing precision medicine, reducing diagnostic time, and improving treatment accuracy. Its non-invasive nature makes it particularly valuable for continuous monitoring and personalized healthcare solutions.

Beyond medicine, biophotonics also contributes to environmental monitoring, food safety, neuroscience, and pharmaceutical research.

Future Directions

The future of biophotonics lies in artificial intelligence–driven imaging, lab-on-a-chip optical devices, wearable photonic sensors, and quantum-enhanced bioimaging. As technology evolves, biophotonics will continue to bridge the gap between fundamental science and real-world applications.

Conclusion

Biophotonics research is more than a scientific discipline—it is a transformative approach to understanding life through light. By illuminating biological processes with precision and clarity, biophotonics is paving the way for smarter diagnostics, safer therapies, and a deeper understanding of living systems.

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Ophthalmology Tool Could Allow Earlier Retinal Disease Diagnoses

 Optoretinography (ORG), a technique that allows in vivo observation of cellular movement in the eye at the nanoscale, could provide a robust, noninvasive way to evaluate retinal health and detect blinding eye diseases, like age-related macular degeneration, earlier.

An international research team, led by Nanyang Technological University, Singapore (NTU Singapore), tested the feasibility of using ORG as a tool to access the optical expression of electrical activity within the eye’s rod photoreceptors — specifically, the rod early receptor potential generated in the disk membranes, which is challenging to access in electrophysiology. Rod photoreceptors are the cells that support vision in low light, and are often the first to deteriorate at the onset of retinal disease.

The researchers investigated whether rod photoreceptors exhibit an early receptor potential that produces a rapid, minute electromechanical contraction. They found that rod photoreceptors undergo a rapid contraction of up to 200 nm within about 10 milliseconds of light reaching the retina.

When the researchers combined these measurements with biophysical modeling, they further found that the rapid rod photoreceptor movements are initiated when rhodopsin — the eye’s light-sensitive molecule — is light-activated. Rhodopsin activation is an initial step in the body’s conversion of light into electrical signals that the brain can interpret as vision.

“The ‘twitch’ of the eye’s night-vision cells is akin to the ignition spark of vision,” professor Tong Ling said. “We have long known that these cells produce electrical signals when they absorb light, but no one had, until now, ever reported the accompanying mechanical contraction of these cells inside the living eyes of humans or rodents. The findings reveal a fundamental step in the process by which rod photoreceptors detect light and send visual information to the brain. These cells make up about 95% of all photoreceptors in the human retina.”

The researchers used an ultrahigh-resolution point-scan OCT system to image light-triggered electrical activity in rodent rod photoreceptors in vivo. They combined OCT with an unsupervised learning approach to separate the light-evoked response of the rod’s outer segment tips from the retinal pigment epithelium-Bruch’s membrane complex.

In humans, the researchers used ORG with an adaptive optics line-scan OCT to facilitate high-speed recordings in rod photoreceptors.

By enabling noninvasive, in vivo optical imaging of rhodopsin activation, OCT could extend the diagnostic capability of ORG, allowing personalized, objective assessment of rod dysfunction in inherited and age-related eye diseases.

Existing tools to study and measure rod photoreceptor function are inadequate. The in vivo techniques are limited in their sensitivity, specificity, and cellular resolution, while the ex vivo approaches are too invasive to be used on patients.

“This is the first time we’ve been able to see this phenomenon in rod cells in a living eye,” professor Ramkumar Sabesan said. “Rod dysfunction is one of the earliest signs of many retinal diseases, including AMD and retinitis pigmentosa. Being able to directly monitor the rods’ response to light gives us a powerful tool for disease detection and tracking treatment responses earlier and with greater sensitivity than any conventional diagnostic instrument.”

The ability to accurately measure rod photoreceptor viability will allow researchers to assess the structural and functional integrity of rods with high sensitivity and resolution. Together with a technique developed by the team in 2024, which measures the rod photoreceptors’ relatively slow movements in response to dim visual stimuli, the new approach will provide valuable method for clinicians to detect and monitor rod function.

ORG also allows researchers to visualize the movements of other types of cells in a living person’s eye. This could lead to a better understanding of how retinal cells work and their relationship with neighboring cells. From a clinical standpoint, it could allow more detailed, and potentially earlier, diagnoses of retinal diseases, especially those that primarily affect the photoreceptors.

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Biophotonics: Strategic Market and Tech Overview

 The report offers a comprehensive look at the biophotonics market, examining its growth across applications like imaging, sensing, and light-based therapies. It analyzes usage trends in medical diagnostics, therapeutics, and testing, as well as regional dynamics across North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific, and other global markets. Market drivers, challenges, and innovations in material design are discussed, along with insights into leading companies and their offerings.

This report is particularly relevant today as the biophotonics market is undergoing rapid transformation driven by technological advances and increased demand for healthcare. Innovations in optical technologies are expanding the scope of biophotonics across multiple industries, particularly in non-invasive diagnostics and therapeutic applications.

The rising prevalence of chronic diseases further fuels the need for advanced, precise, and less intrusive medical solutions. In this dynamic environment, staying informed about market trends and emerging opportunities is crucial for stakeholders aiming to leverage the full potential of biophotonics.

The factors driving the market's growth include:

Growing Prevalence of Chronic Diseases: The increasing global burden of chronic illnesses like cancer, diabetes, and cardiovascular diseases is driving demand for advanced diagnostic and therapeutic tools. Biophotonics offers precise, real-time imaging and monitoring solutions that support early detection and effective treatment, making it essential in modern healthcare.

Rising Demand for Non-Invasive Diagnostics: Patients and clinicians prefer non-invasive diagnostic methods for their safety, comfort, and efficiency. Biophotonics technologies such as optical coherence tomography and Raman spectroscopy enable accurate, painless diagnostics, reducing the need for surgical procedures and improving patient outcomes.

Advances in Optical Technologies: Rapid innovation in lasers, fiber optics, and imaging systems has enhanced the performance and accessibility of biophotonics tools. These advances allow for higher resolution, faster data processing, and integration with AI, expanding their use in both clinical and research settings.

Expansion into Non-Medical Applications: Biophotonics is finding applications in industries like agriculture, food safety, environmental monitoring, and forensics. Its ability to detect biological and chemical changes makes it valuable for quality control, pollution detection, and security, broadening its market reach.

Increasing Penetration of Personalized Medicine and Precision Healthcare: As healthcare moves toward personalized and precision approaches, biophotonics plays a key role by enabling molecular-level diagnostics and targeted therapies. Its capabilities support tailored treatment plans based on individual patient profiles, aligning with the future of medicine.

Interesting facts:

 In vitro biophotonics accounted for 72% of the biophotonics market in 2024 because of the rising need for early disease detection, better optical imaging technologies, and increased use of personalized medicine. North America accounted for 52.8% of the biophotonics market in 2024 thanks to its strong technical infrastructure, sizable investments in research, and demand from healthcare, life sciences, and biotech industries.


Growth was also boosted by partnerships and innovations from leading companies Thermo Fisher Scientific, Danaher Corp., and Hamamatsu Photonics.Combining biophotonics with nanotechnology has led to major improvements in ultra-sensitive diagnostic tools and targeted treatments. This has made disease diagnosis more accurate and helped create personalized treatment plans that improve patient outcomes.

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Biophotonics as a new application in optical technology: A bibliometric analysis

Biophotonics procures wide practicability in life sciences and medicines. The contribution of biophotonics is well recognized in various Nobel Prizes. Therefore, this paper aims to conduct a bibliometric analysis of biophotonics publications. The scientific database used is the Web of Science database. Harzing's Publish or Perish and VOSviewer are the bibliometric tools used in this analysis.

This study found an increasing trend in the number of publications in recent years as the number of publications peaked at 347 publications in 2020. Most of the documents are articles (3361 publications) and proceeding papers (1632 publications). The top three subject areas are Optics (3206 publications), Engineering (1706 publications) and Radiology, Nuclear Medicine, and Medical Imaging (1346 publications).



The United States has the highest number of publications (2041 publications) and citation impact (38.07 citations per publication; h-index: 125). The top three publication titles are Proceedings of SPIE (920 publications), Journal of Biomedical Optics (599 publications), and Proceedings of the Society of Photo Optical Instrumentation Engineers SPIE (245 publications). The potential areas for future research include to overcome the optical penetration depth issue and to develop publicly available biosensors for the detection of common diseases.

Biophotonics is the scientific application of optics in life sciences. It is a breakthrough in biological, pharmaceutical, environmental and agricultural science, and in the medical area [1]. This field can be traced back to the 1600s when Antonie van Leeuwenhoek created the single-lens microscope to observe bacteria and protozoa [2]. Then, in 1903, Niels Ryberg Finsen won the Nobel Prize for the treatment of lupus vulgaris with concentrated light radiation [3,4]. In 2008, Shimomura, Chalfie and Tsien received the Nobel Prize for the findings of green fluorescent protein which is used as a marker protein to observe cells [5,6]. In 2014, Betzig, Hell and Moerner were also recognized with the Nobel Prize award for their super-resolved fluorescence microscopy [7].


Nakamura, Mukai and Senoh's discovery of gallium nitride blue light emitting diodes, which has also been awarded with the Nobel Prize, has potential applications in phototherapy and photobiomodulation [8–10]. In 2018, a Nobel Prize was partly awarded to Arthur Ashkin for the invention of optical tweezers which can be used to study the DNA in bacteriophage capsids [11–13].

The application of biophotonics in diagnostics and therapeutics has helped patients with early detection and targeted treatments for their infections. Electron microscopy and light microscopy can detect nano-scale particles to elucidate virus morphology. Interferometric light microscopy can also differentiate viruses from other nano-scale particles with higher sensitivity to determine virus concentration [14,15].



Atomic force microscopy-infrared spectroscopy and tip-enhanced Raman spectroscopy also enable the retrieval of the structural characteristics of viruses such as the COVID-19 virus [16–18]. Surface plasmon resonance sensing is also useful to characterize biomolecular interactions by immobilizing the receptors on the sensors [19–21]. Methods such as fluorescence microscopy and vibrational spectroscopy can be used to determine the viral load of a patient. Since biophotonics has many practical uses, this paper performs a bibliometric analysis of the application and practicability of biophotonics throughout the years of research in the Web of Science database.

Bibliometric analysis is the precise exploration of scientific data to unravel the evolution of a research area [22,23]. Bibliometric analysis also sheds light on the prominent topics in the research area [24]. However, the bibliometric analysis application in biophotonics is very new and underdeveloped and has not been carried out in the current literature.



Bibliometric analysis of biophotonics is timely considering the presence of scientific databases such as Web of Science for data extraction and the ease of analysis with bibliometric tools such as Harzing's Publish or Perish and VOSviewer [25–27]. Bibliometric analysis is powerful for its ability to analyse large volume of data and provide impartial insights on the performances of articles, authors, and journals.



There are two parts of bibliometric analysis to study the intellectual structure of a research area, namely performance analysis and thematic analysis. Performance analysis involves three metrics in terms of publication, citation, and both citation and publication [28–30]. Publication metric includes total publications (TP); citation metrics are total citations (TC) and average citations per paper (C/P); citation and publication metrics include citations per cited publication (C/CP), h-index (h), and g-index (g). Thematic analyses examine the co-authorship, co-citation, and co-occurrence of the research area [31].



Hence, this paper conducts a bibliometric analysis of biophotonics using the Web of Science database from 1984 to 2023 as of July 5, 2023. This bibliometric analysis of biophotonics publications began with the first indexed publication on the Web of Science database, which was in 1984. The endpoint was chosen based on the date of extraction on July 5, 2023. The research questions of this bibliometric analysis are as follows.

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Biomedical Applications of Biophotonics

 Biophotonics is the science of producing and utilizing photons or light to image, identify, and engineer biological materials. It is the integration of four major technologies: biotechnology, lasers, photonics, and nanotechnology. Biomedical applications of biophotonics include light interactions in medicine and biology for the purposes of health care.

Diagnostic biophotonics

Diagnostic biophotonics is used to detect diseases in their initial stages before actual medical symptoms occur in patients. By using optics, diagnostic biophotonics provides several advantages of sensing and imaging at the molecular level and also collects multidimensional data for evaluation. Technologies based on light are generally contact-free with less effect on integrity of living subjects and, consequently, can easily be applied in situ.

• Optical tagging: Proteins, cells, DNA, and tissues are tagged with optical tags and their incandescence or fluorescence is measured; also, according to the pathological or physiological situation the changes are analyzed.
• Visualization of complex structures: Advanced laser technology has enhanced imaging of vasculature retinal structures and other optic nerves to provide precise diagnosis of ocular diseases. By observing the modifications occurring in ocular capillaries, the diagnosis of common vascular disorders is enabled.
• Cellular level diagnosis: Sophisticated optical technologies involving lasers, and photonic and biophotonic applications in medicine provide assistance in observing and identifying cellular biochemistry and their functions, organ integrity, and the characteristics of tissues.
• Optical endoscopes: In medical applications, the combination of optical fibers and endoscopes is used for less invasive imaging and surgery of internal organs. Laser light with high-level intensity is delivered using an optical fiber to an inner region of the body, for instance, to eradicate tumors.

Therapeutic biophotonics

Applications of light include treatment of diseases by altering biological processes. Light is used for modifying the cellular functions photochemically and to remove tissues by photomechanical or photothermal process.

• Thermal contact: In this method, heat is produced by high-energy laser light, which is used to disrupt the tissues and, hence the main impact of laser light is photothermal. The response to laser light of the target tissue depends on the extent of increase in temperature and water content in that specific tissue.
• Bioimaging: This is noninvasive imaging technique that visualizes real-time biological processes. This technique aims at lowering the impact of cellular processes as much as possible. Through bio-imaging, the ion or metabolite levels of molecular processes are quantified. Latest developments in bio-imaging include fluorescence resonance energy transfer and two-photon fluorescence excitation microscopy. Images that are reconstructed in both 2D and 3D have enhanced the effective visualization of disease processes and models.
• Photobiostimulation: The process of activating live cells or organisms by laser radiation is known as biostimulation. Low intensity laser and light emitting diode are broadly used in various aspects by dermatologists, dentists, and surgeons. These laser radiations are low powered and do not generate heat that can disrupt biological tissues. They promote a curing effect by deep penetration into the tissues, enabling progression of the photochemical effect.
• Optical coherence tomography (OCT): This method can offer label-free high resolution optical imaging with higher sampling frequency of intraoperative evaluation. OCT is a fast developing technology with the ability to influence many fields of human biology and clinical medicine. It is analogous to ultrasound in which reflected light is detected instead of sound. It can be used in the functioning of optical biopsies by generating images that are similar to histological sections without any removal or blotting of tissues. OCT is used potentially in the study of various tumors and is also applied as intraoperative surgery in breast cancer.

Applications in the field of research

Research in biophotonics aims at improving the sensing and optical imaging techniques to study the structure and function of cells or tissue at the microscopic and nanoscopic levels.

• Spectroscopy: Spectroscopy deals with the study of relation between emitted energy and matter. An electromagnetic radiation is a spectrum that is emitted or absorbed by a sample. This has been classified into various types such as fluorescence, infrared, ultraviolet, nuclear magnetic resonance, absorption, and mass spectroscopy. Raman spectroscopy is a scattering method based on Raman effect. In Raman scattering, the energy difference produces a molecular vibrational excitation.
• Photomechanics: Photomechanical analyses are based on optics used to study the gradient properties in biological materials. It is also used for examining the relationship between the mechanical stress and strain in the structure of root dentin. Light sensitive particles in polymer solutions or solids will undergo a conversion from light to mechanical energy called photo contraction.
• Fiber optic sensors: This technique deals with remote sensing of physical and chemical specifications. By focusing light into the central part and directing to a sample, analytical information is obtained. The optical signals are reflected back across the same fibers and the intensity is calculated. It is broadly accepted in detecting clinical and biochemical analytes, e.g., metabolites, immunoproteins, enzymes, and serum electrolytes. Sensors that react to these parameters are often called biosensors.
  
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