Review and Analysis of Electrochemical Instrumentation Design for Continuous Multi-Analyte Microfluidic Sensor Arrays

Electrochemical sensor arrays that perform simultaneous multi-technique (SMT) measurements within a shared electrolyte are essential for continuous, multi-analyte detection in microfluidic platforms for environmental and healthcare monitoring. This review examines the potentiostat architectures and electrode geometries relevant to SMT operation. Traditional single channel and multi-electrode potentiostat topologies are surveyed, and their suitability for multi-cell shared-electrolyte environments is evaluated. Additionally, crosstalk mechanisms in shared electrolytes are classified into chemical, electrical, and a newly identified category termed stability-based interference, which arises from conflicting feedback loops in conventional grounded working electrode instrumentation. A survey of existing multi-cell platforms reveals that most reported systems either avoid true SMT operation or address crosstalk primarily through electrode geometry without systematic evaluation of instrumentation effects. Based on this analysis, we introduce an instrumentation and electrode geometry co-design framework that provides a unified design pathway toward continuous multi-analyte microfluidic sensors for wearable and point-of-care applications.