Fluorescent imaging based on near-infrared (NIR) fluorophores has revolutionized the techniques employed for detecting biological events in depth owing to their advantages referring to diminished photon scattering, high signal-to-noise ratio and better light transparence through tissue. As for conventional luminogens, the nanofabrication of those innately hydrophobic π-conjugated architectures into water-dispersible nanoparticles (NPs) may result in attenuated fluorescent intensity deriving from the detrimental distribution of π-π interactions in the confined space. Oppositely, chromophores possessing aggregation-induced emission (AIE) characteristics emit boosted brightness at aggregate level according to the mechanism of restriction of intramolecular motion (RIM). In this review, we summarize the recent progresses of NIR emissive AIE NPs for multifarious biomedical applications from the viewpoint of different fabricated manners, mainly covering self-assembly and matrices assisted approaches. Furthermore, the current challenges and future research directions of NIR AIE NPs are briefly discussed.

基于近红外 (NIR) 荧光团的荧光成像彻底改变了用于深度检测生物事件的技术，因为它们具有减少光子散射、高信噪比和更好的组织透光性等优点。对于传统的发光体，将那些先天疏水的 π 共轭结构纳米加工成水分散性纳米粒子 (NPs) 可能会导致荧光强度减弱，这是由于 π-π 相互作用在受限空间中的有害分布而导致的。相反，具有聚集诱导发射（AIE）特性的发色团根据分子内运动限制（RIM）的机制在聚集水平上发出增强的亮度。在本次审查中，我们从不同制造方式的角度总结了近红外发射 AIE NPs 在多种生物医学应用中的最新进展，主要包括自组装和矩阵辅助方法。此外，还简要讨论了 NIR AIE NPs 当前面临的挑战和未来的研究方向。