High-Resolution Optical Chromatography: Principles, Innovations, and Emerging Biomedical Applications

Area of Science:

• Biophysics
• Analytical Chemistry
• Optofluidics

Background:

• Optical chromatography (OC) is a label-free technique for precise particle manipulation and separation.
• It utilizes optical radiation pressure balanced with fluid drag forces.
• OC separates particles based on size, refractive index, and morphology without labels or modifications.

Purpose of the Study:

• To provide a comprehensive overview of OC principles and recent advancements.
• To highlight emerging applications in bioanalysis and future directions.
• To discuss integrated optofluidic systems and their impact on OC capabilities.

Main Methods:

• Review of fundamental principles of optical chromatography.
• Analysis of recent progress in particle separation strategies.
• Examination of integrated optofluidic system designs, including plasmonic microlens arrays and fiber-based systems.

Main Results:

• Advancements in optofluidic platforms enhance OC scalability, throughput, and sensitivity.
• OC is transitioning to compact, application-oriented analytical platforms.
• Integration with tunable resistive pulse sensing (TRPS) enables simultaneous particle fractionation and characterization.

Conclusions:

• OC is a powerful tool for high-resolution sorting of diverse analytes, including biological cells and pathogens.
• Innovations are expanding OC applications in critical biomedical fields like exosome isolation and pathogen detection.
• Future directions focus on high-throughput, multimodal, and clinically relevant OC platforms.