Polymer optical fiber for monitoring human physiological and body function: A comprehensive review on mechanisms, materials, and applications

The monitoring of human physiological signs and body functions, such as respiration rate, heart rate, foot pressure, and joint movement, plays an important role in medical advances and life quality improvements. Polymer optical fibers are made of polymer materials with attractive characteristics compared with silica fibers, such as low Young’s modulus, high failure strain levels, high flexibility, and bio-compatibility. These advantages are well-aligned with the instrumentation requirements for monitoring human physiological and body functions. In this perspective, this paper provides a comprehensive review about polymer optical fiber for human physiological and body functions monitoring, namely mechanisms, materials, and applications, which makes it possible to envisage a widespread implementation of such sensors in this research field in the next few years.