The increasing prevalence of pathogen outbreaks underscores the urgent need for rapid, accurate, and cost-effective diagnostic tools. Colorimetric detection has gained significant attention among the available techniques due to its simplicity, portability, and potential for point-of-care applications. The nanomaterial-based colorimetric detection field continues to evolve, with innovations focusing on improving sensitivity, specificity, robustness, cost-effectiveness, and friendly analysis. Additionally, efforts to address limitations, such as stability and environmental impact, pave the way for more sustainable and reliable diagnostic solutions. This review highlights recent advances in nanomaterials for colorimetric pathogen detection in the last five years.

Glioblastoma is the most common form of brain cancer in adults, representing 35–40% of all malignant brain tumors. This highly aggressive malignancy originates in the central nervous system, and despite notable advancements in treatment strategies, it continues to be an incurable disease. The isolation of circulating tumor cells (CTC) at an early stage is challenging due to the low probability of their presence in peripheral blood. Detection and enumeration as early as possible can reportedly lead to more effective treatment. This study proposes a novel label-free, rapid, and continuous CTC separation device based on a lateral filter array microfluidic device for the highly efficient immunoaffinity isolation of CTCs. Our methodology successfully captured and isolated circulating tumor cells (CTCs) from the whole blood of glioblastoma (GBM) patients prior to surgery, achieving over 90% capture efficiency in under 40 min of analysis. These findings highlight the potential of this technology to enhance our understanding of the clinical significance of CTCs in the management of GBM in future research.