Recent advances in Aggregation-Induced Emission in body surface organs

The surface organs mainly comprise the superficial layers of the various parts of the mammalian body including the skin, eyes, and ears, which provide solid protection against various threats to the entire body. Damage to surface organs could lead to many serious diseases or even death. Currently, despite significant advancements in this domain, there remain numerous enigmas that necessitate expeditious resolution, particularly pertaining to diagnostic and therapeutic objectives. The advancements in nanomedicine have provided a significant impetus for the development of novel approaches in the diagnosis, bioimaging, and therapy of superficial organs. The aggregation-induced emission (AIE) phenomenon, initially observed by Prof. Ben Zhong Tang, stands out due to its contrasting behavior to the aggregation-caused quenching (ACQ) effect. This discovery has significantly revolutionized the field of nanomedicine for surface organs, owing to its remarkable advantages. In this review of literature, we aim to provide a comprehensive summary of recent advances in AIE lumenogen (AIEgen)-based nanoplatforms in the field of detection, diagnosis, imaging, and therapeutics of surface organ-related diseases and discuss prospects in the domain. It is hoped that this review will help attract researchers’ attention towards the utilization of this field for the exploration of a wider range of biomedical and clinical applications.