Recent advances in point-of-care biosensors for the diagnosis of neglected tropical diseases

Considering the progressive spread of infections and the rising incidence of tropical neglected diseases, rapidity and accuracy in diagnosis are important in developing countries and for tropical countries. The complexity of getting a rapid diagnosis is a relevant cause of deaths from infectious diseases in the developing world more than expected. Furthermore, the current diagnostic methods often require sophisticated equipment, expensive chemicals, time-consuming, and high-qualify staff, which are unavailable in limited-resource settings. However, new progress in bioelectronics, micro-and nanofabrication technologies have directed the development of new analytical platforms suitable for fast and highly sensitive point-of-care (POC) devices. These POC technologies allow the miniaturization and integration of several functions in one device, further facilitating its application in poor conditions locations. The main advantages proportionated by such devices include low cost, simple, and user-friendly performance and the capability to provide accurate and reliable results quickly. Nevertheless, some challenges in POC diagnoses still need to be overcome to achieve a practical application of such technologies in real conditions. This review will critically examine and analyze the emerging POC technologies, including optical-, electrochemical, and piezoelectric-based biosensors developed over the last 5 years, contributing to a great impact on the diagnosis of neglected tropical diseases in developing countries, and discuss the main challenges and goals that will guide the research in this topic over the next years.