The shift toward decentralised and patient-centric testing has placed point-of-care (POC) technologies at the forefront of medical innovation. Once limited to glucose test strips and lateral flow assays, the field has the potential to undergo a remarkable transformation, highlighted by breakthroughs in electrochemical biosensing platforms.
These platforms are enabled by advanced carbon nanomaterials that showcase innovative and transformative features. To be ahead of this curve, diagnostics engineers need a clear understanding of point-of-care diagnostics up until this point before delving into the potential future.wd
The evolution of point-of-care diagnostics began with the need to monitor individual biomarkers in real time, often for chronic conditions requiring tight management. Among these, blood glucose monitoring stands as the archetypal use case pioneering both the technology and user adoption that would later define the field.
POC glucose monitoring paved the way for the entire field proving that biosensors could be miniaturised and used outside clinical labs. However, limitations in enzymatic stability and material variability have left room for improvement.
Recent advances have introduced non-enzymatic, synthetic receptor-based systems (such as boronic acid–functionalised electrodes) that are capable of selectively binding glucose in physiological environments. These systems show improved stability and lower cost when integrated with structured carbon nanomaterials, particularly those with high electroactive surface areas and tunable electronic properties.
The scope of POC diagnostics has broadened significantly in recent years thanks to advancements in innovative carbon nanomaterials for biosensor transducers.
None of these examples are currently commercially available in POC diagnostics, but new materials are making them a real possibility in the near future.
A growing focus in diagnostics lies in simultaneous detection of multiple biomarkers. Diseases like sepsis or myocardial infarction require panels of proteins to be measured together for confident diagnosis. With traditional lab-based methods (e.g., ELISA, mass spec) this is an extremely slow and cumbersome process for often time-critical decisions. Unfortunately, it is extremely difficult for traditional transducer materials (graphene, CNTs, etc.) to support multiplexed capabilities due to cross-reactivity, signal interference and/or manufacturing variability.
However, electrochemical POC devices using new carbon nanomaterials show extremely promising results to achieve multiplexed detection at a scalable and commercial level. These innovations compress what once required a full laboratory into the footprint of a credit card-sized device, opening up significant opportunities in POC diagnostics moving forward.
The frontier of POC diagnostics is increasingly wearable, enabling continuous health monitoring without the need for clinical intervention. Devices under development or early validation include sweat-based lactate sensors for sports medicine and critical care or even saliva cortisol monitors for mental health assessment in everyday settings. These devices represent a move away from single-use, episodic diagnostics toward integrated platforms that can adapt to an individual’s dynamic health state.
At the foundation of each of these POC capabilities is a fundamental rethink of the electrode material. Traditional noble metals and screen-printed carbon inks fall short in pivotal factors like sensitivity, cost and reproducibility. These stand in the way of commercial viability in many cases, but new forms of carbon nanomaterials are bringing transformative properties to the table.
POC diagnostics are no longer limited by the lab. Thanks to advances in carbon nanomaterials, we are entering a new era of high-performance, low-barrier diagnostics.
Among the most promising of these materials is Gii, a proprietary 3D carbon nanomaterial that combines conductivity, antifouling behaviour, biocompatibility and reproducibility. Gii is also the first transducer material to provide fully capable multiplexed capabilities in electrochemical sensing. Thanks to these features, this promising material stands at the centre of POC diagnostics’ exciting future.
To find out more about this innovative material and how it can enhance your applications, download our guide below.