Sensors and Actuators Reports最新文献

{"title":"PNA-SERS biosensor for label-free detection of SARS-CoV-2 genomic sequences in saliva","authors":"Alessandro Esposito ,&nbsp;Sara Martino ,&nbsp;Deniz Yilmaz ,&nbsp;Maria Mangini ,&nbsp;Luca De Stefano ,&nbsp;Annunziata Corteggio ,&nbsp;Paola Italiani ,&nbsp;lIaria Rea ,&nbsp;Anna Chiara De Luca","doi":"10.1016/j.snr.2025.100369","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.snr.2025.100369","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>The COVID-19 pandemic has emphasized the need for rapid, sensitive, and accessible molecular diagnostics. In this study, we present a label-free Surface-Enhanced Raman Spectroscopy (SERS) biosensor for the direct detection of SARS-CoV-2 RNA in biological fluids. The proposed sensor is based on a thiolated Peptide Nucleic Acid (PNA) probe immobilized on colloidal gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) deposited on functionalized glass substrates. A stable and selective hybridization with target sequences is provided by the intrinsic characteristics of PNA molecules, such as neutral backbone, high sequence affinity and enzymatic resistance. Whereas AuNPs enables strong signal enhancement and excellent reproducibility, without requiring complex nanofabrication techniques. Overall, the biosensor fabrication relies entirely on standard laboratory procedures and commercially available reagents, making it cost-effective and easily scalable. The detection of the target RNA occurs through label-free SERS, responsible for amplifying the vibrational fingerprint of nucleobases. Multivariate analysis through principal component analysis (PCA) and regression (PCR) further enhances spectral discrimination and detection sensitivity. The sensor exhibits a limit of detection of 110 pM, falling within the clinically relevant range of salivary SARS-CoV-2 RNA concentrations. Detection performance was assessed in both buffer and artificial saliva, demonstrating the potential of the platform for use with real biological samples. Moreover, the device demonstrates high selectivity, effectively distinguishing between fully matched, mismatched, and random sequences.</div><div>This work highlights the potential of PNA-SERS biosensors for rapid, amplification-free viral RNA detection and offers a promising approach for point-of-care diagnostics in infectious diseases.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":426,"journal":{"name":"Sensors and Actuators Reports","volume":"10 ","pages":"Article 100369"},"PeriodicalIF":7.6,"publicationDate":"2025-07-28","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144739514","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Advances in optical biosensors as alternative diagnostics for clinical determination of ESKAPE bacteria","authors":"Maargavi Singh ,&nbsp;Sreelakshmi C․S․ ,&nbsp;Chiranjay Mukhopadhyay ,&nbsp;Sajan D. George ,&nbsp;Pooja Nag ,&nbsp;Kapil Sadani","doi":"10.1016/j.snr.2025.100365","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.snr.2025.100365","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>The global rise of antimicrobial resistance (AMR), manifesting as multidrug-resistant, extremely drug-resistant, and pandrug-resistant pathogens, is causing morbidities which are alarmingly translating to mortalities. The issue is pertinent to low and middle-income countries, which rely heavily on their primary and secondary healthcare setups with severely constrained infrastructure and diagnostics. Traditional and molecular diagnostic methods are effective, but have long turnaround times, are expensive, and require specialized facilities. Due to these constraints, these facilities are usually not present at the primary healthcare centers. This review explores the urgent need for alternative diagnostic strategies beyond conventional pathogen identification and antibiotic susceptibility testing, emphasizing the detection of bacterial metabolites and virulence factors as innovative biomarkers for AMR. This article provides critical insight into tailoring optical biosensor technologies as alternate diagnostics for ESKAPE pathogens in resource-limited settings. It highlights the integration of these biosensing platforms with emerging metabolomics and biomarker profiling technologies, offering a promising route toward point-of-care diagnostics. In addition, incorporating artificial intelligence and machine learning algorithms in signal processing and feature extraction enhances biosensor performance and accelerates diagnostic accuracy. The review critiques the current state of the art in AMR diagnostics and provides strategic inroads for developing robust and deployable diagnostics to help better bacterial infection control.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":426,"journal":{"name":"Sensors and Actuators Reports","volume":"10 ","pages":"Article 100365"},"PeriodicalIF":7.6,"publicationDate":"2025-07-23","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144739515","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"A universal fluorescent lateral flow strip approach based on molecular beacon-assisted rolling circle amplification for point-of-care nucleic acid detection","authors":"Xiaopeng Chen ,&nbsp;Wentao Wang ,&nbsp;Pin Zhang ,&nbsp;Qionglin Wang ,&nbsp;Kangbo Liu ,&nbsp;Fengfang Ding ,&nbsp;Xianwei Zhang ,&nbsp;Ligong Hou ,&nbsp;Yingyu Zhang ,&nbsp;Wancun Zhang","doi":"10.1016/j.snr.2025.100363","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.snr.2025.100363","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Simple, cost-effective, sensitive, and specific approaches that are capable of enabling point-of-care testing (POCT) are crucial for clinical diagnosis, especially in settings with extremely limited resources. Therefore, a universal, simple, low cost, sensitive, and specific POCT approach called RCA-F-LFS was developed by combining molecular beacon (MB)-assisted rolling circle amplification (RCA) for target amplification with fluorescent lateral flow strips (F-LFS) to enable highly sensitive and visual detection of RCA products. Using <em>Mycoplasma pneumoniae</em> as the detection target, RCA-F-LFS demonstrated high sensitivity (0.1 pM) and specificity, accurately distinguishing it from other pathogenic microorganisms. In addition, RCA-F-LFS enables visual detection of both <em>Mycoplasma pneumoniae</em> DNA and RNA. The detection results of clinical throat swab samples showed that RCA-F-LFS could accurately detect <em>Mycoplasma pneumoniae</em>, with 100 % agreement with current clinical approaches. As a proof of concept, RCA-F-LFS can detect other nucleic acid targets by simply changing the target sequence, offering a robust and versatile strategy for the development of novel clinical POCT detection methods.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":426,"journal":{"name":"Sensors and Actuators Reports","volume":"10 ","pages":"Article 100363"},"PeriodicalIF":6.5,"publicationDate":"2025-07-23","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144702951","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Piezoelectric sensor characterization in buckling mode for structural dynamic strain measurements","authors":"Aliakbar Ghaderiaram,&nbsp;Erik Schlangen,&nbsp;Mohammad Fotouhi","doi":"10.1016/j.snr.2025.100362","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.snr.2025.100362","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>The buckling mode in piezoelectric materials offers advantages such as an increased measurable strain range, ease of installation, and extended service life. This paper investigates the potential of piezoelectric sensors operating in buckling mode for structural strain measurement by evaluating key factors including boundary conditions, sensor response linearity under dynamic loading, and impedance engineering to optimize the voltage–strain relationship. A structural extension was developed to facilitate sensor integration and to enable the application of different buckling boundary conditions. Results show that the clamped–clamped configuration generated at least 1.65 times higher output voltage, and three times greater peak strain compared to other boundary conditions. An experimentally validated analytical model was employed to assess and improve the performance of buckled piezoelectric sensors in dynamic environments. The findings highlight that introducing initial buckling reduces signal perturbations, enhances voltage linearity across loading frequencies, and extends the effective strain measurement range. Furthermore, impedance engineering was used to successfully mitigate the nonlinear effects of transient response, thereby improving signal stability and accuracy in dynamic strain monitoring applications.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":426,"journal":{"name":"Sensors and Actuators Reports","volume":"10 ","pages":"Article 100362"},"PeriodicalIF":6.5,"publicationDate":"2025-07-22","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144702950","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Palladium nanostructure-based label-free electrochemical biosensors for HbA1c and insulin measurement","authors":"Mukesh Thapa,&nbsp;Yun Seok Heo","doi":"10.1016/j.snr.2025.100360","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.snr.2025.100360","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Diabetes mellitus (DM) is characterized by impaired glucose regulation due to insufficient insulin secretion or cellular resistance to insulin. Although insulin is the primary regulatory molecule, glucose remains the most monitored biomarker despite its high variability. Glycated hemoglobin (HbA1c), a more stable marker with a longer half-life, provides a comprehensive assessment of long-term glycemic control. Simultaneous measurement of HbA1c and insulin would offer enhanced insight for DM management. In this study, we present a label-free electrochemical biosensor capable of simultaneously quantifying HbA1c and insulin using a single drop of blood. The device integrates dual screen-printed carbon electrodes functionalized with palladium nanostructures (PdNS), allowing covalent immobilization of anti-HbA1c and anti-insulin antibodies on WE1 and WE2, respectively. Upon incubation with a pretreated blood sample and introduction of hydrogen peroxide (H₂O₂) serving as the measuring solution, amperometric signals were generated: oxidation of the heme group in HbA1c at WE1, and suppression of current at WE2 due to insulin interference. All concentrations were quantified based on current responses to the measuring solution. The biosensor demonstrated excellent analytical performance, including high sensitivity (R² &gt; 0.96), selectivity (&gt;95 %), long-term stability (&gt;95 % over 120 days), and operational efficiency, as confirmed through standard and whole blood sample analysis. This is the first disposable point-of-care (POC) device that enables dual detection of HbA1c and insulin on a single chip, offering a practical and comprehensive tool for real-time DM monitoring and personalized disease management.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":426,"journal":{"name":"Sensors and Actuators Reports","volume":"10 ","pages":"Article 100360"},"PeriodicalIF":6.5,"publicationDate":"2025-07-18","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144687045","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"A systematic review of continuous glucose monitoring sensors: principles, core technologies and performance evaluation","authors":"Xinying Wu ,&nbsp;Xingyu Zhao ,&nbsp;Weiliang Chen ,&nbsp;Qinghua Chen ,&nbsp;Linghai Kong ,&nbsp;Peiyao Li","doi":"10.1016/j.snr.2025.100361","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.snr.2025.100361","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Diabetes is characterized by chronic hyperglycemia, a condition resulting from insufficient or impaired insulin secretion and utilization. As the global prevalence of diabetes continues to rise, Continuous Glucose Monitoring (CGM) technology has emerged as a key solution. The flexible electrode design and ‘‘24/7′’ coverage of CGM systems address the discomfort associated with traditional Blood Glucose Monitoring (BGM), reducing the need for frequent fingertip punctures and improving patient compliance. The shift from BGM to CGM technology can be attributed to significant advancements in electrode design, material selection, and sensor performance. This paper reviews recent advancements in CGM systems, focusing on the principles of the four sensor generations, core sensing technologies, outer membrane design, and key performance indicators. Finally, this paper provides a summary and outlook on future research directions in CGM sensors development.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":426,"journal":{"name":"Sensors and Actuators Reports","volume":"10 ","pages":"Article 100361"},"PeriodicalIF":6.5,"publicationDate":"2025-07-14","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144652990","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"A multi-sensing quinazoline-derived fluorescent sensor for selective detection of Ru3+, Ir3+, Th4+, and UO22+ with environmental applications","authors":"Prakash Seenu ,&nbsp;Nandhini Karthikeyan ,&nbsp;Namrata Priyadharshini Hota ,&nbsp;Saravanan Enbanathan ,&nbsp;Sathiyanarayanan Kulathu Iyer","doi":"10.1016/j.snr.2025.100357","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.snr.2025.100357","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>The chemosensor, 2-(10-hydroxybenzo [h]quinolin-9-yl) quinazolin-4(3H)-one (SP55) was successfully synthesized in a two-step synthesis reaction and confirmed through characterisation techniques like NMR spectroscopy, FT-IR, and HR-MS. For the optical experiments, the ligands were solubilized with a solvent mixture of (8:2) acetonitrile and water, whereas the cation salts were dissolved in water. The absorption studies ensure sensitivity only to Ru3+, Ir3+, Th4+, and uranyl nitrate (UO22+), compared to other cations. The absorption and emission tests indicated that the emission intensified on adding Ru³⁺, Ir³⁺, Th⁴⁺, and uranyl nitrate (UO₂²⁺) ions with blue shift and absorption also intensified but with red shift The limit of detection (LoD) was 0.44 nM for Ru³⁺, 2.35 nM for Ir³⁺, 1.64 nM for Th⁴⁺, and 1.99 nM for UO₂²⁺. The complex formation between the sensor and metals was confirmed using FT-IR, HR-MS, Job's plot, DFT, and ¹H NMR titration analyses. Furthermore, we used the SP55 chemosensor to detect Ru³⁺, Ir³⁺, Th⁴⁺, and uranyl nitrate (UO₂²⁺) in environmental water samples.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":426,"journal":{"name":"Sensors and Actuators Reports","volume":"10 ","pages":"Article 100357"},"PeriodicalIF":6.5,"publicationDate":"2025-07-05","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144597532","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Exploring affinity receptors in bioanalysis: from natural binders to biomimetics","authors":"F. Vivaldi ,&nbsp;F. Torrini ,&nbsp;F. Spiaggia ,&nbsp;F. Di Francesco ,&nbsp;M. Minunni","doi":"10.1016/j.snr.2025.100359","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.snr.2025.100359","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Affinity receptors have played a pivotal role in advancing bioanalysis, primarily for diagnostic and therapeutic purposes, thanks to their high selectivity toward target molecules, which enables their use in complex biofluids. While antibodies remain the gold standard, ongoing research has explored alternative receptors with improved stability, reduced size, and enhanced performance in bioanalytical and clinical applications. This works traces the evolution of affinity receptors from classical antibodies to emerging biomimetic and synthetic alternatives, including affibodies, nanobodies, aptamers, and molecularly imprinted polymers (MIPs). We highlight their molecular features, advantages, and limitations, emphasizing their use as part of the molecular toolbox for bioanalytical assay development and biosensing. Overall, the continuous diversification of affinity binders reflects the dynamic nature of this field, where the optimal receptor remains context dependent. For this reason, the research into new binders to complement or eventually replace antibodies that, for the moment, remain the choice for high-throughput applications, is still ongoing.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":426,"journal":{"name":"Sensors and Actuators Reports","volume":"10 ","pages":"Article 100359"},"PeriodicalIF":6.5,"publicationDate":"2025-07-03","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144570862","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"CRISPR-Cas13a-powered electrochemical biosensors for RNA-based disease diagnostic and monitoring","authors":"Salma Nur Zakiyyah ,&nbsp;Irkham ,&nbsp;Karina Salsabiila Putri Sima ,&nbsp;Clianta Yudin Kharismasari ,&nbsp;Mengzhen Xi ,&nbsp;Shabarni Gaffar ,&nbsp;Mehmet Ozsoz ,&nbsp;Francesco Paolucci ,&nbsp;Giovanni Valenti ,&nbsp;Yeni Wahyuni Hartati","doi":"10.1016/j.snr.2025.100358","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.snr.2025.100358","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Nucleic acids serve as specific, selective, and sensitive components in molecular diagnostics, offering efficient and high-precision results. Unlike DNA, RNA expression reflects real-time cellular activity, allowing for the monitoring of disease progression, treatment response, or environmental influences. This makes RNA a superior biomarker due to its ability to enable early disease detection, provide higher specificity, allow non-invasive sampling, and offer high sensitivity for low-abundance targets. RNA-based biosensor innovations hold significant potential for detecting genetic diseases, such as cancer, and preventing viral infections. Electrochemical biosensors have become a fast and efficient alternative to gold-standard diagnostic methods, offering simplicity, rapid response, and suitability for clinical use, including point-of-care applications. Recent advancements have integrated the CRISPR-Cas13a system with electrochemical biosensors to enhance RNA detection sensitivity and specificity. The CRISPR-Cas system, an adaptive immune mechanism in bacteria, has been widely utilized for diagnostics. Cas13a is superior to other Cas proteins for RNA detection due to its high specificity, inherent signal amplification, and ability to detect low-abundance RNA without requiring reverse transcription or amplification steps. This review summarized recent progression of CRISPR/Cas 13a and its combination with electrochemical technique, including electrochemiluminescence (ECL) and photoelectrochemical (PEC) methods. The principles and advantages of CRISPR/Cas13a, electrochemical, ECL, and PEC technique for RNA detection are described. In electrochemical-based biosensors, Cas13a recognizes and binds to the target ssRNA, triggering its trans-cleavage activity, which indiscriminately cuts nearby RNA reporters. This process alters the electrochemical signal, enabling selective and sensitive RNA detection. Finally, several examples of CRISPR/Cas13a-based electrochemical biosensors are discussed, highlighting their potential as molecular diagnostic tools for RNA detection and emphasizing their advantages in sensitivity, specificity, and rapid detection capabilities.</div><div>© 2012 Published by Elsevier Ltd. Selection and/or peer-review under responsibility of Global Science and Technology Forum Pte Ltd</div></div>","PeriodicalId":426,"journal":{"name":"Sensors and Actuators Reports","volume":"10 ","pages":"Article 100358"},"PeriodicalIF":6.5,"publicationDate":"2025-07-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144563381","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Moisture-thermo dual-responsive hydrogel structure for liquid composition change detection and programmed actuation via vertical crosslinking gradient based defocusing photolithography","authors":"Jinsik Yoon ,&nbsp;Kibeom Kim ,&nbsp;Junghyun Bae ,&nbsp;Wook Park","doi":"10.1016/j.snr.2025.100356","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.snr.2025.100356","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Multifarious detection and response mechanisms have been introduced and implemented because responsive materials, particularly hydrogel polymers, adopt certain transformations by external reactions and recover their original appearance. Heterogeneous structures are usually fabricated to obtain responsive hydrogels. In addition, component frame gradation methods have been applied to overcome the limitations of material composition. In this study, we present versatile responsive hydrogel structures that perform as sensor or actuator. The structures are fabricated using a defocusing maskless photolithography system with an objective lens, and consist of a single hydrogel-retained polymeric crosslinking density gradient. The hydrogel structures immersed in anhydrous hygroscopic solutions fail to swell, thereby maintaining their curved shapes. The solutions, improperly stored and left unattended, naturally absorb ambient moisture, and the resulting increase in water content enhances water–polymer interactions proportionally. This enhanced interaction induces swelling of the hydrogel, leading to curvature changes, enabling the structure to function as a sensor for detecting changes in liquid composition. By utilizing the structure, a change in moisture content of approximately 3% is easily verified without mechanical assistance. In contrast, temperature-dependent property changes in ethanol solutions with minimal water content predominantly affect solution–polymer interactions rather than polymer–polymer interactions. Reversible structural responses of the hydrogel are analyzed under repeated thermal cycling, and actuators such as a gripper and walking robot operating via thermal switching are successfully developed.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":426,"journal":{"name":"Sensors and Actuators Reports","volume":"10 ","pages":"Article 100356"},"PeriodicalIF":6.5,"publicationDate":"2025-06-30","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144548422","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}