A Comprehensive Review on the Optical Micro-Electromechanical Sensors for the Biomedical Application

Area of Science:

• Biomedical Engineering
• Optical Micro-Electromechanical Systems (MEMS)
• Photonics

Background:

• Optical MEMS integrate micro-optics, micro-mechanics, and electronics for sensing and influencing optical signals.
• These devices are valuable in biomedical applications due to their small size, EMI insensitivity, affordability, and biocompatibility.
• A comprehensive review of 140 articles was conducted to assess advancements, challenges, and success factors in photonic MEMS for biomedical use.

Purpose of the Study:

• To review current developments in optical MEMS for biomedical applications.
• To identify recent advancements, challenges, and critical success factors in photonic MEMS design.
• To explore the future scope of work for optimizing photonic MEMS devices in healthcare.

Main Methods:

• Systematic literature review of 140 research articles.
• Qualitative analysis to identify trends, challenges, and success factors.
• Evaluation of different photonic sensing technologies for biomedical applications.

Main Results:

• Fibre Bragg Grating (FBG) sensors are increasingly demanded due to their flexibility, accuracy, and efficiency.
• Other photonic systems like optical ring resonators, Mach-Zehnder interferometers (MZI), and photonic crystals are in experimental stages for biosensing.
• Sophisticated fabrication requirements pose challenges for non-FBG photonic systems.

Conclusions:

• Key design factors significantly influence the application and future scope of photonic MEMS in biomedicine.
• Miniaturization of complete FBG devices is a critical future research direction for biomedical applications.
• Despite extensive research, the commercialization of FBG devices for specific biomedical applications has seen limited progress.