Carbon Nanomaterial-Based Biosensors: A Forthcoming Future for Clinical Diagnostics

Abstract

Advancements in various scientific domains such as genetics, bioinformatics, immunology, medicines, and computational analysis have a colossal impact for the evolution of diagnostics/sensing platforms. These advances contribute towards enhanced reliability, economic, quicker, and patient centric/compliant sensing platforms; for ultrasensitive diagnosis of non-communicable diseases (cancer, cardiovascular ailments are few). According to WHO report, comprehensive containment/control of non-communicable diseases must be executed effectively. The key to achieve this would be enhanced accessibility to early diagnosis. The attributes of an ideal diagnostics set apart by WHO are affordable, sensitive, user-friendly, rapid, and robust use, equipment free, delivered to the needy. These qualities are easier to meet with biosensor devices. With these significant qualities and miniaturization, demand of biosensor production has ramped up during the last decade. As biosensors provide minimal invasion, thus are suitable to enhance successful treatment and patient survival. Conversely, carbon element possesses diverse properties at nanoscale, rendering it expedient for fabrication into biosensors, and thus, the carbon nanomaterials such as graphene, carbon nanotube are used as elite nanomaterials in healthcare-associated biosensors. In this chapter, we described the biosensors as physical biosensors with primary focus on optical biosensors such as surface plasmon resonance-based biosensors and surface-enhanced Raman scattering-based biosensors and chemical biosensors with electrochemical biosensors in details and their role in disease identification, over the past years. The primary impetus of this chapter is to focus upon carbon nanomaterial-based optical and electrochemical biosensors. In addition, the role of carbon nanomaterial in future generation of biosensors evolution is described briefly.