Aptamers-based wearable electrochemical sensors for continuous monitoring of biomarkers in vivo

The emergence of wearable devices capable of continuous biomarker monitoring has significantly transformed the traditional landscape of healthcare, offering real-time insights into physiological changes, enabling early detection of disease, and facilitating individualized therapeutic. Nucleic acid aptamers, as a highly sensitive biorecognition elements with programmable properties, provide an innovative solution for building a new generation of continuous monitoring system. This review presents recent developments in aptamers-based wearable electrochemical sensors for continuous monitoring of biomarkers. Firstly, the core advantages of aptamers in continuous monitoring are summarized, including unique reversible binding properties, excellent biostability and engineerable modification ability, which make them ideal recognition elements for building real-time biosensing interfaces. Secondly, this review provides insights into the design principles of aptamers-based electrochemical sensors, including the characterization of aptamers, the immobilization methods on the electrode surface and the sensing strategies of sensors. Besides, this review highlights recent research advances in the field, focusing on the design of different types of sensors as well as their applications. Specifically, according to the difference target acquisition methods, the type of sensors is classified into non-invasive sensors, which involve monitoring biomarkers present in accessible biofluids such as sweat, saliva and wound exudate, and low-invasive sensors utilizing microneedle patch technology to sample biomarkers within interstitial fluids. Finally, this review introduces the challenges and discuss potential solutions for future development of aptamers-based wearable biosensors, including how to achieve effective biomarkers detection, ensure reversible binding response and ensure long-term stability, etc. This review provides useful reference for the development of aptamers-based electrochemical continuous monitoring technology in healthcare applications.