Illuminating point‐of‐care diagnostics with aggregation‐induced emission biosensors

Abstract

Point‐of‐care (POC) diagnostics play a critical role in early‐stage screening, disease monitoring, and therapeutic evaluation. However, their clinical translation remains limited by inadequate sensitivity, operational complexity, and dependence on bulky instrumentation. Aggregation‐induced emission luminogens, which exhibit strong fluorescence in aggregated states via restriction of intramolecular motion, offer high photostability, large quantum yields, and versatile chemical tunability, making them ideal for high‐performance POC diagnostics. This review systematically summarizes the fundamental design principles of AIE‐based sensors, as well as key signal transduction mechanisms. We then highlight the development of diverse AIE‐integrated POC diagnostics, including lateral flow immunoassays, microfluidic systems, portable detectors, and wearable sensors. We further highlight their capability for detecting a wide range of biomarkers, such as bioactive small molecules, proteins, nucleic acids, and pathogens, and demonstrate their applications in oncology, cardiovascular diseases, infectious diseases, and metabolic disorders. Finally, current challenges and future perspectives are outlined to guide the development of advanced AIE‐enabled POC diagnostics and accelerate their clinical translation.