Recent advances in fluorescent probes for the detection of bone metabolism

The skeleton plays a crucial role in human health. Comprehensive and non‐invasive visualization of the bone is in high demand to detect bone‐related diseases. Clinically, traditional imaging methods still suffer from poor imaging sensitivity, long capture time, and inevitable ionizing radiation and are inadequate for providing real‐time spatial information regarding cellular activity. Recently, various new imaging techniques that utilize different kinds of probes have been developed for improving the clinical detection of bone. In vivo imaging of bone can help to continuously detect bone metabolism and growth, diagnose bone metastases, visualize medication delivery to bones, and even image‐guided surgery. This review aims to summarize and discuss the latest published fluorescent probes for the accurate detection of bone. First, we will provide the general design principle of bone remodelling imaging probes and describe various bone‐targeting moieties, highlighting the signal moieties, targeting ligands, and physicochemical properties of the bone‐specific probes. Next, we will discuss the potential targeted fluorescent probes for the sensitive and accurate detection of bone remodelling in recent years. Finally, we summarize and present our perspectives on future advances in this field. We believe this review will encourage novel ideas for the design and development of smart bone‐targeting probes for bone imaging, drug screening, image‐guided surgery, and evaluation of therapeutic effects.