3D biosensors in advanced medical diagnostics of high mortality diseases

Abstract

Cardiovascular diseases, cancer, and diabetes are high mortality diseases, which account for almost two thirds of all deaths worldwide. Their early detection and continuous evaluation are fundamental for an improved patient prognosis and reduced socioeconomic impact. Current biosensor technologies are typically based on the analysis of whole blood samples from patients for the detection of disease-specific biomarkers. However, these technologies display serious shortcomings, such as reduced sensitivity and dynamic range, limited in vivo applicability, and lack of continuous monitoring. There is the urgent need for new diagnostic and treatment follow-up tools, which allow for the early detection of the pathology as well as for the continuous monitoring of the physiological responses to specific therapies. During the last years, a new generation of biosensor technologies with improved performance has emerged in the biomedical sector. The combination of advanced biomaterial methods, biochemical tools, and micro/nanotechnology approaches has resulted in the development of innovative three-dimensional (3D) biosensor platforms for advanced medical diagnosis. In this review, we report the most recent advances in the field of 3D biosensors for clinical applications, focusing on the diagnosis and monitoring of cardiovascular diseases, cancer, and diabetes. We discuss about their clinical performance compared to standard biosensor technologies, their implantable capability, and their integration into microfluidic devices to develop clinically-relevant models. Overall, we anticipate that 3D biosensors will drive us toward a new paradigm in medical diagnosis, resulting in real-time in vivo biosensors capable to significantly improve patient prognosis.

Skin-Integrated Wearable Systems and Implantable Biosensors: A Comprehensive Review

“…Biosensors generally consist of three fundamental components: (i) the detector, to detect the stimulus or the biological component; (ii) the transducer, to permute the stimulus in an output signal; and (iii) the signal processing system, to process the output signal in an appropriate form. The proper combination of these three elements leads to a rapid and convenient conversion of the biological events to detectable and measurable signals [ 5 , 6 ].…”

“…In these devices, the most often monitored vital signs are heart electrical signals, blood pressure, pulse rate, blood glucose level, and respiration efficacy [ 5 ]. Advances in this field have provided freer patient motion and uninterrupted diagnostic data streams for medical monitoring [ 6 ].…”

Label-Free Biosensors for Laboratory-Based Diagnostics of Infections: Current Achievements and New Trends

“…The effect of the detection of biological molecules in optical biosensors based on SPR consists in a change (increase) in the intensity of the reflected beam during the course of the reaction. SPR has become one of the common methods of biodetection, which have entered the practice of marker-free biosensor technologies [75,83,94,95].…”

Biotin-Conjugated Cellulose Nanofibers Prepared via Copper-Catalyzed Alkyne-Azide Cycloaddition (CuAAC) “Click” Chemistry

“…Current biosensor research tackles performance issues by immobilizing probes on planar surfaces in point-of-care devices. However, the largest drawback is that the poor surface area limits the attachment of probes, directly correlating to lower sensitivity and higher response time [1]. Instead, 3D structures are being explored for their high surface-area-to-volume ratio, enhanced roughness, and porosity.…”