Omar Ramadan

Arsenic contamination in water and food remains a major environmental and public health challenge worldwide. Natural geological processes and anthropogenic activities, including mining, smelting, a...

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) remains a leading cause of cancer-related mortality worldwide due to the limited sensitivity of current surveillance and diagnostic strategies for early-stage detection. Electrochemical biosensors have emerged as promising tools for HCC diagnostics owing to their high sensitivity, rapid response, low cost, and compatibility with point-of-care testing. This review provides a comprehensive overview of recent advances in electrochemical biosensors for HCC detection, focusing on key biomarkers such as alpha-fetoprotein (AFP), glypican-3 (GPC-3), AFP-L3, and circulating nucleic acids. We discuss developments in biorecognition strategies, nanomaterial-assisted signal amplification, and analytical performance of reported sensor platforms. In addition, the review critically examines the gap between laboratory-scale sensor performance particularly ultra-low detection limits and practical clinical requirements, including selectivity in complex biological matrices, reproducibility, long-term stability, and validation using clinical samples. The review also discusses how nanomaterial selection, fabrication complexity, and device variability influence the clinical translation of electrochemical biosensors. Finally, the review highlights future directions for developing clinically viable electrochemical biosensors, including multiplex biomarker detection, standardized validation with real clinical samples, scalable manufacturing approaches, and integration with artificial intelligence and digital health platforms to improve HCC monitoring.

Creatinine is a cornerstone biomarker for evaluating renal function and guiding clinical decisions in chronic kidney disease, acute kidney injury, transplantation, and drug administration. However, its routine determination remains constrained by the specificity, cost, and practicality of conventional analytical methods, limiting accurate and decentralized testing, particularly at the point-of-care. Molecularly imprinted polymers (MIPs) have emerged as a robust synthetic recognition technology capable of addressing these challenges by combining molecular selectivity with high chemical stability, reusability, and design flexibility. This mini-review is the first to highlight the exclusive use of MIPs for creatinine detection. State-of-the-art MIP-based creatinine detection platforms are critically summarized, highlighting recent progress and general performance trends rather than technical details. Key challenges that currently limit clinical translation are briefly discussed, along with future opportunities for advancing MIP-enabled creatinine sensing toward reliable, low-cost, and portable diagnostic solutions. Overall, this review underscores the growing potential of molecular imprinting to support next-generation creatinine diagnostics, beyond traditional laboratory-based assays.