Engineered Intelligent Electrochemical Biosensors for Portable Point-of-Care Diagnostics

The development of cost-effective, rapid-response, and user-friendly biosensing platforms has become paramount importance for achieving precise biomarker quantification in early disease detection. Implementing timely diagnostic interventions through accurate biomarker analysis not only significantly improves treatment outcomes but also enables effective disease management strategies, ultimately leading to substantial reductions in patient mortality rates. These clinical imperatives have consequently driven the innovation of portable point-of-care (POC) diagnostic systems. Electrochemical biosensors are attractive in the early diagnosis of diseases due to their low cost, simple operation, and high sensitivity. This review examines prevalent material innovations in electrode functionalization for electrochemical biosensing platforms, with specific emphasis on their translational applications in early-stage disease detection. The analysis included three important early diagnostic biomarker types: proteins, nucleic acids, and small molecule metabolites. Furthermore, the work proposes novel research trajectories for next-generation biosensor development, advocating the synergistic integration of artificial intelligence-driven analytics, Internet of Medical Things (IoMT)-enabled diagnostic networks, and advanced micro/nanofabrication techniques.