Application of conductive poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene):poly(styrenesulfonate) (PEDOT:PSS) polymers in potential biomedical engineering

Background Biomedical engineering has emerged as a multidisciplinary endeavor. Biomedical engineering includes the development of new devices, processes, and systems in order to advance medical practice and health care. The specialty areas of biomedical engineering are biomaterials and tissue engineering (TE), bioinstrumentation, clinical and rehabilitation engineering. Area covered Over the past few decades, conductive polymers have received much attention in many applications. The applications of conductive polymers are in the drug delivery system, in the construction of bioactuators, as well as in the Tissue Engineering field. Composites are produced by combining conductive polymers with other polymers or materials. Modification of conductive polymers can render these polymers to be biodegradable and biocompatible, making them very useful in TE applications. Expert opinion Poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene):poly(styrenesulfonate) (PEDOT:PSS), a biocompatible conductive polymer, is recently being researched, to be used as nano-bio interfaces for medical applications such as nucleic acid detection, controlled release of neuron growth factor, and guided cell growth. This review focuses on the recent advances of conductive polymers, specifically, PEDOT:PSS aiming towards TE, photovoltaic devices and biosensor applications.