Next-generation biosensors for infectious disease surveillance: innovations, challenges, and global health impact

Abstract

Recent advances in next-generation biosensors are transforming on how infectious diseases are monitored and offering rapid, real-time, highly sensitive detection of pathogens. Emerging platforms such as wearable, ingestible, and implantable biosensors are enabling continuous health tracking and facilitating early diagnosis, which is critical in managing outbreaks and preventing disease progression. Innovations in nanotechnology, electrochemical sensing, and machine learning are further enhancing the precision, scalability, and affordability of these tools. Biosensors hold particular promise for infectious disease surveillance, especially in low-resource environments where traditional diagnostics may be slow, costly, or unavailable. These technologies can support timely outbreak response, antimicrobial resistance tracking, and personalized treatment strategies. Despite these promising developments, several challenges like regulatory approval processes, limited access to research funding, and difficulties in integrating new biosensing technologies into existing healthcare infrastructure continue to hinder widespread adoption. Overcoming these barriers will require interdisciplinary collaboration among engineers, clinicians, public health experts, and data scientists. This chapter explores key technological breakthroughs, implementation challenges, and the expanding role of biosensors in public health. It also examines future directions and opportunities for strengthening infectious disease monitoring systems to improve patient outcomes and reinforce global health resilience.