Bio-mechatronics is an interdisciplinary scientific field that emphasizes the integration of biology and mechatronics to discover innovative solutions for numerous biomedical applications. The broad application spectrum of bio-mechatronics consists of minimally invasive surgeries, rehabilitation, development of prosthetics, and soft wearables to find engineering solutions for the human body. Fiber-optic-based sensors have recently become an indispensable part of bio-mechatronics systems, which are essential for position detection and control, monitoring measurements, compliance control, and various feedback applications. As a result, significant advancements have been introduced for designing and developing fiber-optic-based sensors in the past decade. This review discusses recent technological advancements in fiber-optical sensors, which have been potentially adapted for numerous bio-mechatronic applications. It also encompasses fundamental principles, different types of fiber-optical sensors based on recent development strategies, and characterizations of fiber Bragg gratings, optical fiber force myography, polymer optical fibers, optical tactile sensors, and Fabry–Perot interferometric applications. Hence, robust knowledge can be obtained regarding the technological enhancements in fiber-optical sensors for bio-mechatronics-based interdisciplinary developments. Therefore, this review offers a comprehensive exploration of recent technological advances in fiber-optical sensors for bio-mechatronics. It provides insights into their potential to revolutionize biomedical and bio-mechatronics applications, ultimately contributing to improved patient outcomes and healthcare innovation.

Non‐contact, high‐resolution imaging is critical in modern industrial environments, where complex and multilayered structures demand precise inspection without disrupting production. Optical coherence tomography (OCT), a non‐destructive, depth‐resolved imaging modality, has emerged as a transformative tool for real‐time visualization of internal features in advanced manufacturing processes. This review begins with the principles of OCT and provides a comprehensive analysis of its applications across key manufacturing sectors, including display inspection, thin‐film monitoring, microelectronics, printed circuit board (PCB) analysis, laser‐based manufacturing, and coating evaluation. For each domain, representative methods are examined for their effectiveness in detecting subsurface defects, measuring internal geometries, and supporting quality control. The role of OCT in industry is highlighted through comparisons with conventional inspection techniques. In addition, the review discusses current challenges across resolution, optical penetration and contrast, signal quality, system integration, hardware cost, throughput, and artificial intelligence (AI) and data infrastructure. It also highlights emerging advances in adaptive optics, multimodal and AI‐enhanced imaging, compact and portable OCT platforms, and next‐generation computational and data‐processing architectures for real‐time industrial deployment. By combining technical evaluation, comparative analysis, and future‐oriented perspectives, this review positions OCT as a core technology and foundational tool for next‐generation quality assurance in smart manufacturing and Industry 4.0 environments.

Optical Coherence Tomography (OCT) emerged as a technology for the detection of retinal disease. Owing to its excellent performance and ability to provide in-vivo high-resolution images, the popularity increased dramatically across various application domains. Consequently, OCT has been widely used in other branches of medical applications, i.e., oncology and otolaryngology, industry, and agriculture. Despite its widespread use, OCT image analysis is an inherently subjective, laborious, and time-intensive task that requires expertise. Deep learning (DL) stands as the current state-of-the-art method for image analysis. Hence, several research groups have directed their efforts toward incorporating DL algorithms with OCT imaging to reduce the time as well as the subjectivity. This article comprehensively reviews the principal technological advancements in DL methods applied across various OCT applications. Additionally, it explores the latest trends in developing DL methods for OCT, highlights their limitations, and discusses future opportunities in a comprehensive manner.

Circular leaf spot (CLS) disease poses a significant threat to persimmon cultivation, leading to substantial harvest reductions. Existing visual and destructive inspection methods suffer from subjectivity, limited accuracy, and considerable time consumption. This study presents an automated pre-identification method of the disease through a deep learning (DL) based pipeline integrated with optical coherence tomography (OCT), thereby addressing the highlighted issues with the existing methods. The investigation yielded promising outcomes by employing transfer learning with pre-trained DL models, specifically DenseNet-121 and VGG-16. The DenseNet-121 model excels in differentiating among three stages of CLS disease (healthy (H), apparently healthy (or healthy-infected (HI)), and infected (I)). The model achieved precision values of 0.7823 for class-H, 0.9005 for class-HI, and 0.7027 for class-I, supported by recall values of 0.8953 for class-HI and 0.8387 for class-I. Moreover, the performance of CLS detection was enhanced by a supplemental quality inspection model utilizing VGG-16, which attained an accuracy of 98.99% in discriminating between low-detail and high-detail images. Moreover, this study employed a combination of LAMP and A-scan for the dataset labeling process, significantly enhancing the accuracy of the models. Overall, this study underscores the potential of DL techniques integrated with OCT to enhance disease identification processes in agricultural settings, particularly in persimmon cultivation, by offering efficient and objective pre-identification of CLS and enabling early intervention and management strategies.

The Printed Circuit Board (PCB) manufacturing industry is a rapidly expanding sector, fueled by advanced technologies and precision-oriented production processes. The placement of Surface-Mount Device (SMD) components in PCB assembly is efficiently automated using robots and design software-generated coordinate files; however, the PCB repair process remains significantly more complex and challenging. Repairing faulty PCBs, particularly replacing defective SMD components, requires high precision and significant manual expertise, making automated solutions both rare and difficult to implement. This study introduces a novel real-time machine vision-based coordinate estimation system designed for estimating the coordinates of SMD components during soldering or desoldering tasks. The system was specifically designed for Selective Compliance Articulated Robot Arm (SCARA) robots to overcome the challenges of repairing miniature PCB components. The proposed system integrates Image-Based Visual Servoing (IBVS) for precise X and Y coordinate estimation and a simplified laser triangulation method for Z-axis depth estimation. The system demonstrated accuracy rates of 98% for X and Y axes and 99% for the Z axis, coupled with high operational speed. The developed solution highlights the potential for automating PCB repair processes by enabling SCARA robots to execute precise picking and placement tasks. When equipped with a hot-air gun as the end-effector, the system could enable automated soldering and desoldering, effectively replacing faulty SMD components without human intervention. This advancement has the potential to bridge a critical gap in the PCB repair industry, improving efficiency and reducing dependence on manual expertise.