Advances in Optical Fiber Aptasensor for Biochemical Sensing Applications

Abstract Optical fiber biochemical sensing technology, as a cutting‐edge, multidisciplinary, and universal sensing technology, is gradually becoming the research focus in the field of biochemical sensing. They enjoy distinctive characteristics such as high cost‐effectiveness, flexibility, resistance to electromagnetic interference, and small size and can be used to detect biochemical analytes at ultra‐low concentrations with ultra‐low sample consumption, even when these biochemical analytes are in hard‐to‐reach environments. An aptamer is a DNA or RNA oligonucleotide fragment with a high affinity for the target selected from random sequences. Due to their advantages of simple synthesis, low cost, good stability, good specificity, and strong affinity, they are gradually becoming ideal recognition elements and may replace antibodies as next‐generation target receptors. Therefore, aptamers, as functional materials, are integrated into optical fiber sensors, which are called optical fiber aptasensors, providing new opportunities for the construction of high‐performance and intelligent biochemical sensors. This article aims to review the recent research progress of fiber‐optic aptamer biochemical sensors, with a focus on their sensing mechanisms and applications. Finally, based on the existing deficiencies of fiber‐optic aptamer biochemical sensors and practical requirements, their future development trends are briefly discussed.