How Can LIBS Drive Faster Biomedical and Drug Quality Testing?
Key Takeaways
- A pulsed laser creates a short-lived plasma whose optical emission yields rapid, label-free, minimally destructive, simultaneous multi-element readouts.
- Biofluid work emphasizes trace-element/electrolyte and metal-ion abnormalities plus exploratory metabolic-marker characterization in blood and urine as screening/discrimination use-cases.
A new review article finds that laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy (LIBS) could speed biofluid, tissue and pharmaceutical testing, but matrix effects and validation remain barriers.
A recent review article published in the journal Applied Spectroscopy Reviews identifies
What is LIBS and where has it been mostly used?
Laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy (LIBS) is an analytical technique that has seen significant research and growing commercial adoption over the past 25 years.2 It works by directing laser energy at a sample to generate a short-lived plasma.1,3,4 The instrument then records the plasma’s optical emission.1,3,4 According to the review, the resulting spectrum provides an elemental fingerprint and can, in some cases, supply information about molecular fragments.
In the review article, the research team examines recent research on the use of
Because of the ability of LIBS to generate a short-lived plasma and record plasma’s optical emission, using the technique could allow laboratories to screen and differentiate complex biological samples more quickly than workflows requiring labels or extensive sample preparation.1 The authors highlighted LIBS’ speed, operational simplicity and capacity for simultaneous multi-element detection as its principal advantages for biomedical applications.
“With these advantages, LIBS has become an important label-free, minimally destructive analytical tool for near-real-time multi-element and chemical information analysis in the biomedical field,” the authors wrote in their study.1
What potential does LIBS have in biofluid analysis?
In biofluid analysis, the review describes the technology’s potential for screening trace elements and identifying abnormalities involving electrolytes and metal ions. It also summarizes research into the characterization of metabolic markers in samples such as blood and urine.
These capabilities could be relevant where changes in elemental composition provide useful analytical information.1 However, the review presents LIBS as an emerging screening and discrimination method rather than a fully standardized clinical diagnostic platform.1
The authors also assessed LIBS applications in biological tissue analysis. Because the technique can generate chemical and elemental information while causing relatively limited sample destruction, it may offer a way to rapidly characterize tissue matrices.1
For pharmaceutical manufacturers and testing laboratories, the review identifies several potential quality-control uses. The first is about evaluating formulation uniformity.1 The second is conducting in vitro comparisons between formulations.1 And finally, the third quality-control use is assessing pharmaceutical efficacy.1 Simultaneous elemental detection may be particularly useful when manufacturers need to examine compositional variation or compare products using a rapid analytical workflow.
What are the current challenges in using LIBS in biomedical applications?
Currently, the biggest obstacle in applying LIBS in biomedical applications, as well as biological and pharmaceutical applications, is matrix effects. Biological and pharmaceutical samples are chemically complex, and differences in their composition can influence the laser-generated plasma and resulting spectral measurements.1 That variability can complicate comparisons across sample types, instruments and laboratories.1
There are also a couple smaller, additional obstacles. One of these is calibration, and the other is standardization.1 Implementation will require analytical approaches capable of producing consistent results under different operating conditions. The authors also called for external validation involving large cohorts, which is a step needed to establish whether findings from smaller or controlled studies remain accurate across broader populations and settings.1
What are the future directions of LIBS in biomedical and drug testing?
The review article points to multimodal integration as one possible development path, combining LIBS with other analytical methods to provide more complete sample characterization. Portable point-of-care instruments could also extend the technology beyond centralized laboratories if performance and standardization challenges are resolved.1
However, as the authors make clear in their article, LIBS is set to become a biomedical analytical technology, provided that the limitations of the technique highlighted in this article are adequately addressed.
References
(1) Chen, W.; Li, F.; Sattar, H.; Hou, Z.; Guo, L. Laser-induced Breakdown Spectroscopy in Biomedicine: Principles, Data Analytics, and Applications in Biofluids, Tissues, and Pharmaceuticals. Appl. Spectrosc. Rev. 2026, 1–47. DOI:
(2) Buckley, S. G. LIBS Basics, Part I: Measurement Physics and Implementation. Spectroscopy 2014, 29 (1). Available at:
(3) Wetzel, W. Using Raman and LIBS for Mineral Characterization. Spectroscopy Online, 2026.
(4) Applied Spectra: What is LIBS? Applied Spectra, 2026. Available at: