Innovative and sustainable approaches to NIR-active coatings for next-generation medical devices

Designed to reflect or absorb near-infrared (NIR) light, smart NIR coatings have emerged as a transformative and sustainable solution in healthcare and biomedical fields. As longer wavelength allow for reduced scattering and absorption, NIR light exhibits superior penetration through biological tissues when compared to visible light, making NIR-based technologies extremely useful for both therapeutics and diagnostics. NIR coatings can be utilized for non-invasive imaging to monitor and control the performance of implantable devices, including drug release, biofilm disintegration and infection prevention, providing several advantages over the traditional drug administration, sterilization or antibiotic strategies. In this review, we explore key advantages of using NIR coatings in medical devices, highlighting the impact of their use on device efficiency, operational lifespan and performance, and their role in reducing the environmental impact of medical devices. Using recent examples, we identify pathways by which the use of NIR coatings can continue to drive the improvements in the key performance characteristics of medical devices while supporting the principles of circular economy, highlighting critical challenges and opportunities for this family of technologies.