Next‐Generation Wearable Optical Sensors for Personalized Health and Point‐of‐Care Diagnostics—A Systematic Review

Wearable optical sensors (WOS) represent a rapidly evolving class of technologies that integrate photonic detection with flexible, skin-compatible platforms for real-time monitoring of physiological and environmental parameters. This review presents a comprehensive and interdisciplinary analysis of the WOS landscape, spanning from fundamental materials to translational applications. We systematically examine traditional optical materials, advanced nanomaterials, including metallic nanoparticles, quantum dots, 2D materials, and metal-organic frameworks, and functional polymers used in sensor fabrication. The discussion extends to key optical sensing mechanisms such as colorimetry, luminescence, Surface-enhanced…