Photonic crystal barcode: An emerging tool for cancer diagnosis

Abstract Photonic crystal barcodes, as one of the most powerful and stable coding methods among encoded carriers, have achieved significant success in mimetic multiplex detection of various cancer biomarkers at an extremely low concentration. However, there exists a gap of understanding in this up-and-coming field, which is scarcely presented before from a multiscope perspective. In this article, we aim to present a comprehensive view of historical and current state-of-the-art designs in various cancer diagnostic models, together with a thorough analysis of the pros and cons as well as potential propositions for each innovative photonic crystal barcode design, which will be elaborated in the sequence of classical proteins, micro-ribonucleic acids (miRNAs) and circulating tumor cells (CTCs), respectively. Accompanied by sustainable development of novel signal amplification approaches and multiplex detection systems, photonic crystal barcodes are bound to be intensively employed in clinical cancer diagnosis near in the future.