Recent Advances in HPV Detection: From Traditional Methods to Nanotechnology and the Application of Quantum Dots.

Abstract

Cervical cancer, a significant public health concern, demands precise and expeditious detection methods to curb the spread of human papillomavirus (HPV). The early detection of cervical cancer remains a critical challenge in developing reliable and efficient screening tools to meet the demand for controlling cervical cancer. Traditional detection techniques are often cumbersome, costly, and inadequate for on-site HPV testing. Nanotechnology, with its unique electrical, chemical, and optical properties, has emerged as a pivotal component in the development of biosensors for rapid and reliable HPV detection. This article provides a comprehensive review of the advancements in cervical cancer detection, encompassing traditional methods, emerging protocols, and novel quantum dots (QDs)-based approaches for detection. The review examines the application of various nanomaterials in electrochemical and photoelectrochemical biosensors for the diagnosis of cervical cancer, with these innovations offering a significant improvement over conventional approach. Furthermore, we detail the synthesis methods of QDs and their properties, illustrate the substantial enhancement in sensor performance achieved through their applications, and elucidate the improvements and challenges associated with these new protocols while highlighting the potential application prospects of novel QDs technology in HPV detection.