Organic afterglow probes: mechanisms, chemical design, performance optimization, and biomedical applications

, X-ray or ultrasound) to overcome optical penetration limitations. Representative applications of activatable afterglow nanoprobes are highlighted, covering analyte sensing, lymph node mapping, immune cell imaging, tumor detection, inflammation imaging, and image-guided therapy. Finally, we address current challenges including oxygen dependence, biocompatibility, unified evaluation standards, and scalability, and propose future directions to promote the translation of afterglow probes in precision biomedicine. This review is expected to provide practical references for the rational design and comparative evaluation of such probes.