The origin and progression of a variety of leading health challenges, encompassing Alzheimer’s disease, heart disease, fibrosis and cancer, are directly linked to changes in the presence and orientation of fibrous matter in biological tissue. Fibrous biological tissue exhibits distinct anisotropic optical properties, which can be leveraged for selective imaging. However, these naturally occurring light-matter interactions are inherently weak, posing barriers to their visualization. Here, we leverage anisotropic, colorimetric metasurfaces to selectively visualize disease-relevant fiber density and orientation in biological tissue. We then investigate versatile fiber-affecting diseases where metasurfaces hold great potential to achieve rapid, precise and low-cost tissue diagnostics.
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