Abstract: Catecholamines(CAs) are a class of biologically derived compounds that, as neurotransmitters and hormones, play important physiological roles in humans and animals. They are important markers for the diagnosis of disease and dysfunction and are also components of sympathomimetic drugs. Therefore, a sensitive, accurate, highly selective, and real-time catecholamine assay is of great significance for the diagnosis of disease and the study of its pathophysiological mechanism. In this paper, the detection methods of CAs in the past five years are reviewed from clinical biological samples, living cells and living bodies. The performance characteristics and applications of detection methods including fluorescence imaging, electrochemical method, mass spectrometry, photometric analysis and non-invasive imaging technology are described.