Piezoelectric biosensors

• Focus on non-traditional piezoelectric affinity assays complementing classic immunosensing and detection of nucleic acid sequences.
• Promising application in the field of eukaryotic cells are emphasised.
• Novel signal amplification strategies are provided.
• Recent progress in the instrumentation is evaluated.

Progress in the field of piezoelectric (quartz crystal microbalance-based) biosensors in the recent five years is reviewed. In addition to the traditional immunosensing assays, the combination with detection of nucleic acids is addressed, biosensing of microbes and novel applications in the field of cellular biology are highlighted. The signal enhancing strategies based on both biochemical cascades (often involving nanoparticles) and technological improvements of instrumentation are discussed.

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