Optically encoded microspheres in liquid-phase suspension array technology for immunoluminescence diagnostics: A review

Liquid-phase suspension array technology (SAT), based on optically encoded microspheres, overcomes limitations of traditional enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) and chemiluminescence detection techniques via meeting high-throughput and multiplexing demands in biosensing and diagnosis. It demonstrates significant advantages in terms of accuracy, speed, sensitivity, and multiplex detection capabilities, and has become an emerging research hotspot in the field of luminescent immunodiagnostics. With rapid advancement of nanotechnology and multi-functional nanomaterials, liquid-phase suspension array chips have achieved remarkable progresses in multiplex analysis capacity, encoding capacity, encoding efficiency, detection sensitivity, decoding methods, and application fields. This review provides a comprehensive overview of the types and performance developments of optically encoded microspheres, various decoding instruments, and the broad applications of liquid-phase suspension array technology based on optically encoded microspheres. Finally, we discuss the potential expansion of application fields for encoded microspheres and provide perspectives on their future development directions. This review will contribute to the design of encoded microspheres based on novel functional nanomaterials and further promote their applications in a wider range of fields.