Flexible photonics for biomedical applications: A review

Flexible photonics is a powerful tool that has emerged in last few decades to solve footprint and shape related limitations in photonic devices. Indeed, flexible photonic devices offer several key features: ability to adjust to complex shape surfaces, small footprint, high resilience to mechanical damage, immunity to electromagnetic interference. Thanks to these characteristics, these devices are very attractive for applications in the biomedical field. For instance, the flexibility allows optimal adhesion to the skin, or the reduced size facilitates the realization of wearable devices. In this paper, we will first present the characteristic of flexible photonic devices and discuss about the so far impact of flexible photonics in the biomedical field. Then, we will analyze the currently existing devices and the main used components, with a focus on the applications.