Advances in Spherical Nanoparticle-Labeled Lateral Flow Immunoassays in the Field of Clinical Detection

Abstract

Lateral flow immunoassay (LFIA), as a core technology of point-of-care testing (POCT), holds significant value in clinical hormone detection, vitamin screening, pathogen diagnosis, and biomarker analysis. Notably, spherical nanomaterials, leveraging their diverse physicochemical properties, provide flexible and multimodal signal output strategies for LFIA, substantially enhancing detection performance. Therefore, this review first employs bibliometric analysis of literature from 2015 to 2025 to outline research trends, summarizing preparation and optimization strategies for various spherical nano labels, such as noble metal nanoparticles, fluorescent nanoparticles, nanozyme-active nanoparticles, surface enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) active nanoparticles, and magnetic nanoparticles, while assessing their potential for clinical detection. Furthermore, it discusses the synergistic enhancement effects of multimodal signal strategies, such as colorimetric, fluorescent, SERS, magnetic, and photothermal signals, in clinical diagnostics, and thoroughly examines the role of surface functionalization mechanisms in improving detection sensitivity and specificity. Currently, there remains a scarcity of systematic reviews focusing on spherical nano label-assisted LFIA for clinical sample detection. This review not only provides a theoretical basis and technical support for precision medical diagnostics but also lays a critical foundation for advancing the development of personalized and intelligent home-based health monitoring systems.