Optofluidic POCT for practical deployment: from accurate detection to intelligent decision making

Point-of-care testing (POCT) can markedly shorten the time required to obtain results and greatly expand the range of testing applications. However, with the increasing complexity of samples and the growing demand for intelligent and portable detection, conventional POCT is increasingly confronted with challenges, including limited intelligence, restricted applicability in practical field settings, and incomplete standardization frameworks. As a key component for achieving highly sensitive signal acquisition and reliable result interpretation, optical detection plays an essential role in improving POCT performance and broadening its application scope. In this context, intelligent optofluidic POCT, a highly integrated on-chip detection platform that combines microfluidics, on-chip optics, and artificial intelligence, has been widely applied in biomedicine, environmental science, food safety, and related fields owing to its advantages in speed, accuracy, and intelligence. This review summarizes the key advances in intelligent optofluidic POCT by tracing the workflow from sample transport and on-chip processing to on-chip detection, optical readout, and intelligent decision making, while also discussing synergistic design principles for practical deployment, and further outlines its latest practical applications in home based chronic disease care, rapid field disease screening, and long-term autonomous environmental monitoring. This review aims to provide a new perspective on the overall synergistic design and combinatorial optimization of next-generation POCT and to offer an outlook on its future development toward greater standardization, practicality, and intelligence.