Jürgen Popp on Building a “Personalized Optical Twin” for Continuous Health Monitoring

At the 2026 SciX Conference, which took place from October 4–9, 2026, Jürgen Popp, who is a Scientific Director of the Leibniz Institute of Photonic Technology (IPHT) in Jena, Germany, and a professor at Friedrich Schiller University Jena, described how optical spectroscopy could help move healthcare from an episodic model toward continuous, personalized monitoring. This approach was called the “personalized optical twin.”

Today, Popp explained, patients typically see a physician only when they feel sick, receive medication or surgery, and then generate little or no health information until the next episode. Consumer smartwatches from Apple, Garmin, and Samsung have begun to fill that gap by tracking physiological parameters such as pulse, blood oxygenation, and, in some cases, blood pressure over time. Those data allow individuals to establish a baseline and see when it shifts, whether because of exercise or illness.

However, these devices lack molecular information from cells, tissue, and body fluids. Adding that layer would introduce a new dimension to monitoring. He pointed to biomarkers such as glucose, exercise-related metabolites, and inflammation markers, and described a home-care scenario in which a small daily drop of blood is analyzed. Rather than producing only a conventional blood count, optical spectroscopy can detect changes in the sample’s molecular pattern that may signal the onset of illness.

Combined with wearable physiological data, these measurements could feed AI models that recognize meaningful deviations from a person’s baseline and indicate when a physician visit is warranted. However, Popp stressed that such tools must be trustworthy and should avoid generating excessive false positives. The goal is early detection and a greater shift toward prevention, the core idea behind a digital twin.

Popp noted rapid progress in miniaturized optical technologies, including Raman, infrared, and optical coherence tomography (OCT). He envisioned these tools integrated into daily life: a bathroom mirror that scans skin after a morning shower for changes that could indicate skin cancer, or even a smart toilet. Labeling the concept “optical,” he said, reflects the aim of adding molecular-level information to continuous health monitoring.

Further Reading

1. Popp, J.; Mayherhofer, T. G.; Borowsky, A.; Schmitt, M.; Meier-Ewert, L.; Hamm, G. From Molecular Snapshots to Longitudinal Prevention: The Personalized Optical Digital Twin. Spectroscopy Online, 2026. https://www.spectroscopyonline.com/view/from-molecular-snapshots-to-longitudinal-prevention-the-personalized-optical-digital-twin (accessed October 7, 2026).
2. Popp, J.; Workman, J., Jr.; Wetzel, W. Jürgen Popp on Bringing Raman Diagnostics From the Laboratory to the Clinic. Spectroscopy Online, 2026. https://www.spectroscopyonline.com/view/jurgen-popp-on-bringing-raman-diagnostics-from-the-laboratory-to-the-clinic (accessed October 15, 2026).