Application of Novel Biosensing Technologies in Point-of-Care Diagnosis and Prevention of Infectious Diseases

Rapid and accurate detection of infectious agents is central to outbreak control, antimicrobial stewardship, and patient management in both human and animal health. However, many clinical and field settings still rely on workflows that are slow, require significant infrastructure, or are poorly suited for decentralized testing. This can cause delays that compromise infection control, timely treatment decisions, and prevention strategies. Emerging biosensor and microfluidic technologies are transforming this landscape by miniaturizing complex assays into portable platforms, improving analytical sensitivity, and enabling rapid, actionable reporting at the point of need.This Research Topic focuses on biosensor-enabled pathogen detection and point-of-care (POC) diagnostic platforms that can be deployed near the patient, in the community, or in agricultural settings to support both diagnosis and prevention. We also welcome studies integrating these technologies with digital health platforms for secure data capture, real-time analysis, and informed intervention.Priority areas include, but are not limited to:• Near-patient / near-animal rapid detection that use integrated microfluidic biosensors, isothermal NAATs (LAMP/RPA/NEAR), or CRISPR-based technology to deliver rapid sample-to-answer testing. Applied to recognizing pathogens such as SARS CoV 2, influenza, RSV, Staphylococcus aureus, or Mycobacterium tuberculosis.• Point-of-care immuno/chemical sensing for antigens, toxins, and resistance-relevant markers. Related technologies includes lab-on-chip sensors and real-time fluorescence biosensors that can identify pathogens such as influenza or SARS CoV 2, Clostridioides difficile or microbe drug resistance markers.• Label-free discrimination for rapid differentiation using SPR, SERS, and other photonic biosensors that classify pathogens based on binding kinetics or spectral signatures. Useful for differentiating pathogens such as E. coli or Klebsiella pneumoniae or separating bacterial from viral signatures in complex respiratory samples.• High-resolution characterization for complex or mixed pathogen infections. Applications include digital PCR or single-cell / droplet multi-omics that can be used to resolve novel pathogen infections, pathogen variants, or polymicrobial infections• Implementation of nanomaterials (e.g., quantum dots, nanobeads) incorporated into assays to improve capture efficiency and signal to facilitate recognition of low-load infections such as Candida auris or early-phase viral infection with low antigen levels.• Surveillance from AI/ML-assisted biosignal interpretation and digital health integration to translate outputs into clear pathogen identification. Topic editors: Xinran Xiang, Long Wu, Yuting Shang Source: https://www.frontiersin.org/research-topics/77191/application-of-novel-biosensing-technologies-in-point-of-care-diagnosis-and-prevention-of-infectious-diseases