Analytical chemistry plays a crucial role in medical diagnostics, environmental and food monitoring, and many other fields. One of the main objectives of this field of study is to develop techniques that can be used to detect various analytes that are of great health concern for humans. For example, chemical pollutants in drinking water, biochemical compounds in blood, urine or other body fluids, and biological species in food and water samples. The analytical methods commonly used for the detection of above-mentioned analytes can be divided into spectroscopic techniques, chromatography, molecular techniques like PCR, Enzymatic assays, Immunological Methods, and finally chemical and electrochemical sensors and biosensors.
In this presentation, we will have an overview of different detection systems developed for the clinical and environmental analysis. Since the field is quite vast, we will be more focused on the electrochemical sensors and biosensors developed for the water analysis. Some of the techniques that have been successfully commercialized will be introduced, and the advantages, technical challenges and practical limitations associated with them will be discussed. Finally, the points of improvement and future studies are identified and discussed.