Multifunctional Photonic Nanomaterials and Devices for Digital Photomedicine via Neuro-Immune Cross-Talks

The nervous and immune systems are closely interconnected, and influence the onset and progress of various diseases. Accordingly, understanding the interaction of the neural system and the immune system becomes very important for the treatment of intractable diseases with the analysis of therapeutic mechanisms, such as autoimmune diseases, neurodegenerative diseases, cancers, and so on. The conventional immunomodulation treatments have been mainly carried out by drug administration, but they have suffered from systemic negative side-effects with only limited effects on the specific disease. In this Perspective, photonic nanomaterials and devices are reviewed and discussed for digitally controlled neurostimulating photomedicine via photobiomodulation and optogenetics from the unique viewpoint of neuro-immune cross-talks. The prospects and perspectives to integrate photonic nanomaterials with advanced wearable and implantable healthcare devices are also provided and highlighted to revolutionize the therapeutic strategies by the interaction of neural and immune systems, and optimize the treatment protocols for futuristic digital photomedicine. This approach will revolutionize the fields of neurostimulation and immune regulation for further clinical applications.