Micro/Nanorobots for Advanced Light-Based Biosensing and Imaging

Sensing and imaging of biomolecules are crucial to disease diagnosis, prognosis, and therapy where optical techniques have essential utility. Untethered and remotely controlled micro/nanorobots have shown promising sensing and imaging capabilities, especially in complex biological environments. In this review, how micro/nanorobots are used for optical biosensing and imaging while highlighting the significant developments in the field is discussed. Starting is done by exploring colorimetric biosensing methods enabled by micro/nanorobots. Significant advancements in surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy-integrated micro/nanorobots are reviewed. Further, state-of-the-art optical bio-imaging applications by micro/nanorobots at in vitro intracellular level are highlighted. Novel in vivo bio-imaging assisted by optical micro/nanorobot sensors is examined. Furthermore, innovations in micro/nanorobots are assessed where motion augmentation is used as a detection mechanism, with applications in point-of-care molecular diagnostics. Finally, the challenges associated with micro/nanorobots-assisted advanced optical biosensing and imaging while discussing insights about potential research directions for this rapidly progressing field are summarized.