Functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) in medical research: applications, opportunities, and challenges.

IF 7.4 3区医学 Q1 INTEGRATIVE & COMPLEMENTARY MEDICINE

Chinese Medicine Pub Date : 2026-06-18 DOI:10.1186/s13020-026-01409-w

Qingya Yu, Qiuxu Yuan, Yuying Song, Nana Feng, Yuanyuan Li, Wenbin Liu, Huanang Chen, Zhimin Zhou, Shaofeng Shuai, Ce Tang, Dingkun Zhang, Yi Zhang, Caiyun Zhao

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Abstract

fNIRS is an innovative and non-invasive tool for monitoring hemodynamic changes in the cerebral cortex. In recent years, it has become a widely used intervention method in the medical field for treating various diseases due to its portability and potential for long-term monitoring. This article systematically reviews the development history and technical principles of fNIRS, compares fNIRS with other imaging techniques, summarizes the application and research progress of fNIRS in the fields of neurofunction and brain function, clinical medicine, traditional Chinese medicine (TCM), and rehabilitation medicine, especially in exploring the neurobiological mechanisms of TCM syndromes, monitoring the central effects of acupuncture therapy, and evaluating the brain's response to TCM components. At the same time, it clarifies the shortcomings and deficiencies of fNIRS and discusses its future development, aiming to provide valuable insights and reference points for the future development of fNIRS.

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功能近红外光谱（fNIRS）在医学研究中的应用、机遇和挑战。

fNIRS是一种创新的、无创的监测大脑皮层血流动力学变化的工具。近年来，由于其便携性和长期监测的潜力，已成为医学领域广泛使用的治疗各种疾病的干预方法。本文系统回顾了近红外成像技术的发展历史和技术原理，比较了近红外成像技术与其他成像技术的差异，总结了近红外成像技术在神经功能和脑功能、临床医学、中医、康复医学等领域的应用和研究进展，特别是在中医证候的神经生物学机制探索、针灸治疗中枢效应监测、以及评估大脑对中药成分的反应。同时，澄清了近红外光谱的缺点和不足，并对其未来发展进行了探讨，旨在为近红外光谱的未来发展提供有价值的见解和参考点。

本文章由计算机程序翻译，如有差异，请以英文原文为准。

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来源期刊

Chinese Medicine INTEGRATIVE & COMPLEMENTARY MEDICINE-PHARMACOLOGY & PHARMACY

CiteScore

7.90

自引率

4.10%

发文量

133

审稿时长

31 weeks

期刊介绍： Chinese Medicine is an open access, online journal publishing evidence-based, scientifically justified, and ethical research into all aspects of Chinese medicine. Areas of interest include recent advances in herbal medicine, clinical nutrition, clinical diagnosis, acupuncture, pharmaceutics, biomedical sciences, epidemiology, education, informatics, sociology, and psychology that are relevant and significant to Chinese medicine. Examples of research approaches include biomedical experimentation, high-throughput technology, clinical trials, systematic reviews, meta-analysis, sampled surveys, simulation, data curation, statistics, omics, translational medicine, and integrative methodologies. Chinese Medicine is a credible channel to communicate unbiased scientific data, information, and knowledge in Chinese medicine among researchers, clinicians, academics, and students in Chinese medicine and other scientific disciplines of medicine.