title: The commercialisation of sensor technology in clinical chemistry: an outline of the potential difficulties.
abstract: Despite the numerous examples in the research literature of the potential application of biosensors in clinical chemistry, very few have reached commercialisation. Many pitfalls await the potential manufacturer of bioprobes in clinical chemistry and key areas which require substantial development are: reproducibility of sensor manufacture; interaction of the sensor with appropriate hardware; evaluation and customer perception. This paper discusses and illustrates these problems with examples taken from the recent introduction of ion-selective electrode analysers in regular clinical use. Many similar problems are envisaged for the commercialisation of biosensors and extensive collaboration is essential between researchers, manufacturers and users to overcome the difficulties.
mesh_terms: D001709:Biotechnology / Q000295:instrumentation*; D002624:Chemistry, Clinical / Q000295:instrumentation*; D004566:Electrodes