Electrochemical vs. Optical Biosensors for Point-of-Care Applications: A Critical Review
Seyedeh Rojin Shariati Pour,
Donato Calabria,
Afsaneh Emamiamin,
Elisa Lazzarini,
Andrea Pace,
Massimo Guardigli,
Martina Zangheri,
Mara Mirasoli
Affiliations
Seyedeh Rojin Shariati Pour
Department of Chemistry “Giacomo Ciamician”, Alma Mater Studiorum, University of Bologna, Tecnopolo di Rimini, Via Dario Campana 71, I-47922 Rimini, Italy
Donato Calabria
Department of Chemistry “Giacomo Ciamician”, Alma Mater Studiorum, University of Bologna, Via Francesco Selmi 2, I-40126 Bologna, Italy
Afsaneh Emamiamin
Department of Chemistry “Giacomo Ciamician”, Alma Mater Studiorum, University of Bologna, Tecnopolo di Rimini, Via Dario Campana 71, I-47922 Rimini, Italy
Elisa Lazzarini
Department of Chemistry “Giacomo Ciamician”, Alma Mater Studiorum, University of Bologna, Via Francesco Selmi 2, I-40126 Bologna, Italy
Andrea Pace
Department of Chemistry “Giacomo Ciamician”, Alma Mater Studiorum, University of Bologna, Via Francesco Selmi 2, I-40126 Bologna, Italy
Massimo Guardigli
Department of Chemistry “Giacomo Ciamician”, Alma Mater Studiorum, University of Bologna, Via Francesco Selmi 2, I-40126 Bologna, Italy
Martina Zangheri
Department of Chemistry “Giacomo Ciamician”, Alma Mater Studiorum, University of Bologna, Tecnopolo di Rimini, Via Dario Campana 71, I-47922 Rimini, Italy
Mara Mirasoli
Department of Chemistry “Giacomo Ciamician”, Alma Mater Studiorum, University of Bologna, Tecnopolo di Rimini, Via Dario Campana 71, I-47922 Rimini, Italy
Analytical chemistry applied to medical and diagnostic analysis has recently focused on the development of cost-effective biosensors able to monitor the health status or to assess the level of specific biomarkers that can be indicative of several diseases. The improvement of technologies relating to the possibility of the non-invasive sampling of biological fluids, as well as sensors for the detection of analytical signals and the computational capabilities of the systems routinely employed in everyday life (e.g., smartphones, computers, etc.), makes the complete integration of self-standing analytical devices more accessible. This review aims to discuss the biosensors that have been proposed in the last five years focusing on two principal detecting approaches, optical and electrochemical, which have been employed for quantifying different kinds of target analytes reaching detection limits below the clinical sample levels required. These detection principles applied to point-of-care (POC) devices have been extensively reported in literature, and even the limited examples found on the market are based on these strategies. This work will show the latest innovations considering the integration of optical and electrochemical detection with the most commonly reported analytical platforms for POC applications such as paper-based or wearable and implantable devices.
