An overview of the detection of serotonin and dopamine with graphene-based sensors

Abstract

The development of rapid and sensitive devices for the simultaneous detection of neurotransmitters has critical implications for the clinical field and for the management of several diseases. Parkinson's, Alzheimer's disease, autism, schizophrenia, depression and anxiety are major healthcare challenges for which early diagnostics and personalized therapy are of great concern. Carbon-based nanomaterials and especially graphene-based nanomaterials associated with different architectures have been extensively studied and continue to represent the first line of approach in the development of nanoplatforms for electrochemical sensors. The simultaneous detection of analytes represents a critical point that could be addressed by designing new materials with the capacity to resolve their electrochemical signals. The results can be presented as a matrix that offers a broader viewpoint toward the balance of the neurotransmitter levels that are correlated with clinical symptoms for personalized diagnosis. The goal is to describe and evaluate, in a critical manner, the elaboration of graphene-based sensors that can be included in clinical applications. A major check point discussed throughout the paper is represented by the interference between different neurotransmitters that appear due to their overlapping signals and the strategies to address them to achieve simultaneous detection of as many molecules as possible and to be similar to in vivo experiments.

Keywords: Biomedical applications; Dopamine; Grapheme; Neurotransmitters; Sensors; Serotonin.