Acupuncture Needle-Based Biosensors: Interface Engineering, Sensing Strategies, and Applications.
- 1School of Acupuncture-Moxibustion and Tuina, Beijing University of Chinese Medicine, Beijing 102401, China.
- 2School of Materials Science and Engineering, Peking University, Beijing 100091, China.
- 3School of Physics and Laboratory of Zhongyuan Light, Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou 450052, China.
Abstract
Acupuncture needles, conventionally employed as therapeutic tools in Chinese medicine, have emerged as compelling substrates for constructing minimally invasive sensing platforms. Acupuncture needles' unique attributes, including small size, sharp tip geometry, mechanical robustness, biocompatibility, and ease of insertion into tissue, render them attractive for in vivo, real-time monitoring applications. This review provides an overview of the recent advances in acupuncture needle-based biosensors (ANBSs), focusing on three interconnected aspects: interface engineering approaches, sensing strategies, and representative applications. We demonstrate electrochemical and surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS)-based platforms as two principal classes of acupuncture needle-based biosensors, and survey their applications in neurotransmitter monitoring, disease biomarker detection, therapeutic drug monitoring, metabolite profiling, acupoint initiation investigation, as well as environmental contaminant screening and food safety assessment. Finally, we also discuss current challenges, including long-term instability, inadequate active sites, biofouling, signal drift, and insufficient reproducibility, while offering perspectives on future directions such as optimization of materials, miniaturization and multifunction, intelligent sensing strategies and clinical translation proposal. By bridging traditional acupuncture needles and advanced analytical science, this review not only provides a coherent framework for researchers in biosensors but also inspires the next generation of minimally invasive point-of-care diagnostic tools.
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BibTeX
@article{wang2026acupuncture,
title = {{Acupuncture Needle-Based Biosensors: Interface Engineering, Sensing Strategies, and Applications.}},
author = {Yunjuan Wang and Yuhang Guo and Qing Liu and Yeli Xiao and Zhuo Xiang and Shunhong Xue and Xiaobing Kong and Nuo Shang and Zhifan Jiang and Jinjin Wang and Wenjing Xu},
journal = {Biosensors},
year = {2026},
month = oct,
doi = {10.3390/bios16100582},
url = {https://europepmc.org/article/MED/42930129},
note = {CC BY},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - Acupuncture Needle-Based Biosensors: Interface Engineering, Sensing Strategies, and Applications.
AU - Yunjuan Wang
AU - Yuhang Guo
AU - Qing Liu
AU - Yeli Xiao
AU - Zhuo Xiang
AU - Shunhong Xue
AU - Xiaobing Kong
AU - Nuo Shang
AU - Zhifan Jiang
AU - Jinjin Wang
AU - Wenjing Xu
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/10/16
JO - Biosensors
DO - 10.3390/bios16100582
UR - https://europepmc.org/article/MED/42930129
AB - Acupuncture needles, conventionally employed as therapeutic tools in Chinese medicine, have emerged as compelling substrates for constructing minimally invasive sensing platforms. Acupuncture needles' unique attributes, including small size, sharp tip geometry, mechanical robustness, biocompatibility, and ease of insertion into tissue, render them attractive for in vivo, real-time monitoring applications. This review provides an overview of the recent advances in acupuncture needle-based biosensors (ANBSs), focusing on three interconnected aspects: interface engineering approaches, sensing strategies, and representative applications. We demonstrate electrochemical and surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS)-based platforms as two principal classes of acupuncture needle-based biosensors, and survey their applications in neurotransmitter monitoring, disease biomarker detection, therapeutic drug monitoring, metabolite profiling, acupoint initiation investigation, as well as environmental contaminant screening and food safety assessment. Finally, we also discuss current challenges, including long-term instability, inadequate active sites, biofouling, signal drift, and insufficient reproducibility, while offering perspectives on future directions such as optimization of materials, miniaturization and multifunction, intelligent sensing strategies and clinical translation proposal. By bridging traditional acupuncture needles and advanced analytical science, this review not only provides a coherent framework for researchers in biosensors but also inspires the next generation of minimally invasive point-of-care diagnostic tools.
SN - 2079-6374
ER -