With the world's population aging, higher demands are being placed on the development and research of biomedical sensors. The advancement of medical sensing technology can better prevent, detect, and treat various diseases, playing a crucial role in addressing disease challenges as a vital component of the healthcare system. A key factor in the development of healthcare systems lies in applying advanced functional biomaterials and developing new technologies to create intelligent, miniaturized, reliable, low-cost, multifunctional, and highly efficient biomedical sensors. These sensors enable continuous real-time monitoring and detection of the human body's state and functions, ensuring timely disease detection and prompt treatment under uninterrupted observation.
Definition of a biosensor. A biosensor is a device that utilizes immobilized biomolecules combined with a transducer to detect environmental chemicals inside or outside an organism, as well as the specific interactions and responses between these chemicals. The key components of a biosensor are mainly twofold: one is the molecular recognition component derived from biological tissues, molecules, and individual cells; this part constitutes the signal generation and reception of the biosensor. The other part is the hardware component of the instrument, primarily used for the conversion between physical signals, with detection elements mainly consisting of optical and electrochemical components.
With the development of science and technology, new materials, new principles, and new technologies are constantly emerging, especially the emergence of biochip technology and microelectromechanical systems, which has enabled biosensors to gradually develop into micro-systems for processing and biological detection characterized by miniaturization, intelligence, integration, and chip-based architecture. (2) Working principle of biomedical sensors. The working principle of biosensors is as follows: the substance to be detected combines with bioactive materials through diffusion, and after specific molecular recognition, a chemical or physical reaction occurs, thereby generating a series of information. The corresponding chemical or physical transducers convert this information into electrical signals that can be processed and quantified. These electrical signals are then output through the signal processing system, which can detect the relevant information of the substance to be tested.
Biomedical sensors can detect the interactions between biological macromolecules in real time. By dynamically observing the binding and dissociation relationships between antibodies and antigens, the affinity of antibodies can be accurately calculated, which is crucial for understanding monoclonal antibodies and for the targeted screening of monoclonal antibodies with application potential. (1) Clinical Applications. Biomedical sensors can be used to detect clinically significant substances such as lactate, blood glucose, and glutamine. Monitoring blood drug concentrations in patients shifts the focus from experience-based to science-based treatment, providing guidance for clinical testing. Scientific methods of detection can significantly reduce drug toxicity and inhibit its onset. Currently, glucose detection in blood is widely achieved using glucose enzyme sensors, which have gained public acceptance. Lactate analyzers, as one of the most successful commercially available enzyme sensors, can detect the content of lactate metabolites produced by continuous muscle activity, making them practically significant.(2) Applications in the biomedical field. In the process of drug production using bioengineering technology, biosensors are used to monitor the biochemical reaction characteristics at different times, enabling timely data acquisition and monitoring of bioengineered products to ensure their quality. Biosensors have played a significant role in the research and development of cancer drugs. Currently, in cancer drug research, cancer cells from patients are extracted and cultured, and various drugs are applied to the cells. Biosensors are used to observe the cancer cells' responses to each drug, allowing for the selection of the most suitable and effective treatment.
The Human Genome Project has spurred the rapid development of various biosensors related to medicine, biology, food science, and hygiene, providing suitable conditions and platforms for further research. Therefore, it is believed that in the future, numerous new sensors will be developed and applied, significantly advancing bioinformatics research, disease diagnosis and treatment, and gene sequencing.
