3D-printed biosensors for electrochemical and optical applications

Additive manufacturing (also known as 3D printing) has begun to spread for prototyping at-point-of-use biosensing platforms since allows the custom and decentralized fabrication for on-demand low-cost devices and actuators. Although this research is still in an early stage, 3D printing of bioanalytical platforms can offer enormous potential in several fields, including electrochemical and optical devices; however, some pivotal aspects must be solved in order to achieve active and stable 3D-printed biosensing systems. Accordingly, an overview of printing techniques and recent bio-functionalization of 3D-printed devices for biosensing applications is provided, pointing out the advantages, disadvantages and future opportunities of this technology for the determination of biologically active molecules readout by electrochemical and optical techniques.