Editorial: electrochemical sensors and biosensors in medical and pharmaceutical bioanalysis

Abstract

This Research Topic collects different contributions in the emerging field of bioanalysis, highlighting the most relevant advances reported in the literature as well as some original research studies in medical and pharmaceutical bioanalysis. The first article of this Topic (Antonacci et al.), describes in a detailed review state of the art the paper-based electrochemical devices for pharmaceutical field. In the last few decades, scientific research has been trying to offer valid and reliable solutions to replace or support conventional techniques, in order to facilitate drug development procedures. These innovative approaches may have extremely positive effects in the production chain, supplying fast and cost-effective quality and safety tests on active pharmaceutical ingredients and their excipients. In this context, the exploitation of electrochemical paper-based analytical devices is still in its infancy, but particularly promising for its fascinating properties in the detection of active pharmaceutical ingredients and excipients in tablets, capsules, suppositories, and injections, as well as for pharmacokinetic bioanalysis in real samples.