Microfluidic biosensors for rapid detection of foodborne pathogenic bacteria: recent advances and future perspectives

Rapid detection of foodborne pathogenic bacteria is critical for ensuring food safety and preventing foodborne disease outbreaks. Traditional detection methods, while accurate, are often time-consuming and labor-intensive, making rapid detection technologies a pressing need. Microfluidic biosensors have emerged as a powerful solution, offering high sensitivity, specificity, and rapid analysis with minimal sample volume. In this review, we summarize recent advances in microfluidic biosensor technology, highlighting innovations in detection techniques such as electrochemical and optical microfluidic biosensors. We have also introduced microfluidic components, which are crucial for the implementation of microfluidic biosensors. Based on the current state of this technology development, we finally provide several most important recommendations for future research directions in this emerging research area, which may enable widespread commercialization and adoption in the food industry.