Advanced Electrochemical Strategy for in Vivo Detection of Electrochemically Inactive Molecules

Development of efficient electrochemical strategies for in vivo analysis of electrochemically inactive molecules in brain is significant for understanding and studying their molecular mechanism and roles playing in brain and brain diseases. This review gives a brief introduction on the advanced in vivo electrochemical sensor for detection of non-redox active molecules from three aspects: 1) The selection and design of specific molecules are highly desirable to develop electrochemical sensors with high selectivity for measuring electrochemical inactive molecules through converting specific chemical reaction involved by target to electric signal; 2) The analysis based on ion current rectification occurred at spatial confined micro-interface provides a promising alternative way to realize in vivo monitoring of chemical inert molecules. 3) Integration of electrochemical sensors onto electrode arrays and new concept of dual signal outputs establish a flexible and promising approach for the further analysis of multiple species. At last, some perspectives are highlighted in the further development of the efficient electrochemical platform for in vivo detection of electrochemical inactive ions.