Recent analysis from Frost & Sullivan entitled “Analysis of the Global Biosensors Market” reports that the market generated revenues of $11.53 billion in 2014, and is estimated to more than double to $28.78 billion in 2021. Though innovation has facilitated biosensor penetration into a number of diverse markets, healthcare and food pathogen detection are currently the largest application segments.

“With health and wellness becoming a priority for all concerned in the value chain (individuals, governments, healthcare institutions, diagnostic device developers, system integrators, the medical fraternity and insurance companies), biosensors are acquiring more importance,” said Dr. Rajender Thusu, measurement and instrumentation industry principal. “For instance, strict food safety regulations enacted by federal governments to improve the health of consumers require the use of biosensors for compliance monitoring.”

Under these regulations, meats and milk and milk products must be tested for the absence of a number of pathogens before being processed and supplied for consumption. Along with the rising trend of testing fresh vegetables and processed food for the presence of different pathogens, these norms are fuelling the adoption of testing kits.

The use of biosensors is also expanding to diverse end-user markets. While security agencies are using biosensors to detect drugs, banned substances and explosives, biosensors are also a valuable tool for monitoring health of soldiers in military and defense. Biosensor relevance in automotive applications will reportedly grow with the use of cognitive biosensors to boost driver alertness and enable safety. Biosensor manufacturers must also look into other issues such as the long detection times associated with existing test methods in some applications, as samples need to be enriched in some cases before one can test for the presence of pathogens.

“Several companies are investing in R&D to innovate and improve biosensor technology, to make it highly sensitive, and to develop technology platforms to reduce detection time appreciably,” said Thusu. “Since the long development cycle of biosensor devices is another challenge, manufacturers are trying to address this by deploying both optical and non-optical technologies. Rapid detection biosensor devices are the need of the hour for a number of applications.”

In addition, manufacturers are developing nano-biosensors with features to detect pathogens at a concentration as low as one cell per 5 mL of water. Advanced-stage research is also being conducted to create unique biosensors that can detect cell-to-cell interactions in therapeutic monitoring.

For additional information, visit www.frost.com.