Understanding environmental information is necessary for functions correlated with human activities to improve healthcare quality and reduce ecological risk. Tapered optical fibers reduce some limitations of such devices and can be considerably more responsive to fluorescence and absorption properties changes. Data have been collected from reliable sources such as Science Direct, IEEE Xplore, Scopus, Web of Science, PubMed, and Google Scholar. In this narrative review, we have summarized and analyzed eight classes of tapered-fiber forms: fiber Bragg grating (FBG), long-period fiber grating (LPFG), Mach-Zehnder interferometer (MZI), photonic crystals fiber (PCF), surface plasmonic resonance (SPR), multi-taper devices, fiber loop ring-down technology, and optical tweezers. We evaluated many issues to make an informed judgement about the viability of employing the best of these methods in optical sensors. The analysis of performance for tapered optical fibers depends on four mean parameters: taper length, sensitivity, wavelength scale, and waist diameter. Finally, we assess the most potent strategy that has the potential for medical and environmental applications.
The propagation of viruses has become a global threat as proven through the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic. Therefore, the quick detection of viral diseases and infections could be necessary. This study aims to develop a framework for virus diagnoses based on integrating photonics technology with artificial intelligence to enhance healthcare in public areas, marketplaces, hospitals, and airfields due to the distinct spectral signatures from lasers' effectiveness in the classification and monitoring of viruses. However, providing insights into the technical aspect also helps researchers identify the possibilities and difficulties in this field. The contents of this study were collected from six authoritative databases: Web of Science, IEEE Xplore, Science Direct, Scopus, PubMed Central, and Google Scholar. This review includes an analysis and summary of laser techniques to diagnose COVID-19 such as fluorescence methods, surface-enhanced Raman scattering, surface plasmon resonance, and integration of Raman scattering with SPR techniques. Finally, we select the best strategies that could potentially be the most effective methods of reducing epidemic spreading and improving healthcare in the environment.