Lanthanide-Doped Upconversion Luminescent Materials for Point of Care Diagnosis

Point of care (POC) diagnosis has attracted much research interest due to its rapid, specific and sensitive detection of biomarkers and pathogens. This decentralized diagnostic approach undoubtedly has huge advantage over laboratory testing at large hospitals or community laboratories regarding cost-effectiveness, healthcare delivery, especially with the emerging and spreading of smart technologies. Among all the materials for POC, lanthanides have become a rising star because of their excellent photophysical properties such as long life time, characteristic luminescence. Here, we focus on the wide-spread platforms of POC diagnostic devices and the applications of lanthanide upconverting materials in this field. With the market and social trend analysis, we will give our future perspective about the applications of lanthanide materials in POC.