Magnetic support-driven electrochemical affinity biosensing: Advancing sensitive, rapid, and simplified determination of clinically relevant analytes

The demand to determine analytes at increasingly lower concentrations in complex samples, while minimizing sample size, treatment and test duration, has driven innovation in electrochemical biotechnologies. Inspired by the principle that affinity reactions gain in efficiency and speed when the biosensing surface seeks the analyte, bioelectrochemical technologies leverage their unique strengths along with those provided by magnetic carriers to improve affinity testing, pushing the boundaries of accuracy and efficiency.

This minireview focuses primarily on magnetic beads, motors, and gold-coated magnetic nanoparticles dispersible electrodes, considering the remarkable improvements they provide in electrochemical affinity biotechnologies. A timely, comparative, and critical analysis of the opportunities offered by these three magnetic supports in electrochemical affinity biodetection is carried out by highlighting and discussing some of the most innovative research. This minireview also dares to forecast the future potential of these technologies for advancing modern analytical capabilities and accelerating their integration into next-generation point-of-care devices.