Photonics in Smart Clothing for Personalized Medicine

Abstract

The implementation of mobile health (m-Health) technologies into personalized healthcare systems requires substantial financial investment and the engagement of diverse social resources. Mobile systems integrated into smart clothing represent one of the key directions for the future development of healthcare, particularly with the emergence and deployment of high-speed 5G/6G networks. Underpinning this transition from traditional treatment models—based on diagnosis, medical history, and test results—is the concept of disease prevention and real-time early intervention. Prototypes of m-Health systems developed over the past decade, leveraging photonics and flexible electronics, open new frontiers in healthcare delivery. 5G/6G technologies enhance the efficiency of m-Health in smart clothing through features such as massive multiple-input multiple-output data transmission, secure communication protocols, wireless charging, and energy-efficient operational modes. Smart clothing equipped with embedded multispectral sensors, combined with big data analytics and m-Health systems, enables continuous health monitoring, facilitating timely detection and prevention of diseases. This review-conceptual article presents key aspects of designing prototypes of smart clothing based on thin-film micro- and nanoelectronics. It addresses scientific, technical, and social dimensions of implementing these solutions, including the development and investigation of multispectral sensors, aimed at enhancing healthcare system efficiency, improving patients' quality of life, and laying the foundation for future personalized medicine.

Received: 12 September 2025 | Revised: 31 December 2025 | Accepted: 27 January 2026

Conflicts of Interest

The authors declare that they have no conflicts of interest to this work.

Data Availability Statement

Data sharing is not applicable to this article as no new data were created or analyzed in this study.

Author Contribution Statement

Irina Veshneva: Methodology, Software, Validation, Formal analysis, Writing – review & editing. Rustam Singatulin: Conceptualization, Methodology, Validation, Investigation, Resources, Data curation, Writing – original draft, Writing – review & editing, Visualization, Supervision, Project administration.