The State of the Art on Graphene-Based Sensors for Human Health Monitoring through Breath Biomarkers

Sensors (Basel). 2023 Nov 19;23(22):9271. doi: 10.3390/s23229271.

Abstract

The field of organic-borne biomarkers has been gaining relevance due to its suitability for diagnosing pathologies and health conditions in a rapid, accurate, non-invasive, painless and low-cost way. Due to the lack of analytical techniques with features capable of analysing such a complex matrix as the human breath, the academic community has focused on developing electronic noses based on arrays of gas sensors. These sensors are assembled considering the excitability, sensitivity and sensing capacities of a specific nanocomposite, graphene. In this way, graphene-based sensors can be employed for a vast range of applications that vary from environmental to medical applications. This review work aims to gather the most relevant published papers under the scope of "Graphene sensors" and "Biomarkers" in order to assess the state of the art in the field of graphene sensors for the purposes of biomarker identification. During the bibliographic search, a total of six pathologies were identified as the focus of the work. They were lung cancer, gastric cancer, chronic kidney diseases, respiratory diseases that involve inflammatory processes of the airways, like asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, sleep apnoea and diabetes. The achieved results, current development of the sensing sensors, and main limitations or challenges of the field of graphene sensors are discussed throughout the paper, as well as the features of the experiments addressed.

Keywords: asthma; biomarkers; chronic kidney diseases; chronic obstructive pulmonary disease; diabetes; exhaled air; gastric cancer; graphene; graphene-based sensors; lung cancer; sleep apnoea.

Publication types

  • Review

MeSH terms

  • Asthma* / diagnosis
  • Biomarkers
  • Breath Tests / methods
  • Graphite*
  • Humans
  • Lung Neoplasms*
  • Pulmonary Disease, Chronic Obstructive*

Substances

  • Graphite
  • Biomarkers