Work

Spatiotemporal and Digital Electrochemiluminescence Imaging for Intelligent Quantitative Biosensing

Year: 2026

Type: article

Abstract: Electrochemiluminescence (ECL) imaging has progressed from a sensitive-intensity-based detection method to a powerful analytical platform capable of resolving biological and chemical heterogeneity at the single-entity level. This review maps the evolution of ECL imaging along three major axes: (i) spatiotemporal resolution, enabled by advanced luminophores, confined and built-in coreactant pathways, nanozyme catalysis, and 3D emissive-layer control; (ii) digitalization, in which analog luminescence is converted into discrete, statistically robust events for ultrasensitive quantification; and (iii) intelligent analysis, where artificial intelligence enhances denoising, emitter localization, dynamic tracking, multiplexed decoding, and kinetic inference. Mechanistic innovationssuch as nanoscale confinement, intramolecular coreactant design, in situ conversion of endogenous metabolites, and asymmetric nanostructuresprovide brighter, more localized, and biocompatible emission sources. Parallel advances in materials (metal nanoclusters, quantum dots, perovskites, AIE luminogens, Janus particles), imaging platforms (SECL/PECL modes, super-resolution strategies, microfluidics, smartphone/Raspberry-Pi devices, and large-scale bipolar-electrode arrays), and digital/AI pipelines collectively enable the high-fidelity capture of dynamic processes from single molecules to complex 3D spheroids. Together, these developments establish a coherent spatiotemporal-digital-intelligent framework and position ECL imaging as a versatile, scalable, and excitation-free modality for next-generation biosensing, clinical diagnostics, drug screening, environmental monitoring, and functional material characterization.

Source: Chemical & Biomedical Imaging

Authors: Yu Zheng, Jinwei Xiao, Tadele Eticha, Dejana Bešlić, Saman Hosseinkhani, Yiran Guan, Guobao Xu

Institutions: University of Science and Technology of China, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Changchun Institute of Applied Chemistry, Tarbiat Modares University

Language: English

Topic: Advanced biosensing and bioanalysis techniques

Subfield: Molecular Biology

Field: Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology

Domain: Life Sciences

Open Access status: diamond

Funders: Natural Science Foundation of Jilin Province, National Natural Science Foundation of China, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Ministry of Science and Technology of the People's Republic of China, China Scholarship Council

Awards: G2105786117, G4035575353, G7658082696

OpenAlex ID: W7133348068

FWCI: 9.693

Cites: 136

Cited by: 5

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