Recent Advancements in Conducting Polymers for Biomedical Sensors

The healthcare system heavily relies on quantitative analyses of samples, including blood work, laboratory tests, vitals, imaging, health risk assessments, and health records. However, trends in point-of-care diagnostics and accurate, real-time monitoring of patient’s physiological parameters must meet demands to cut healthcare expenditures, optimize treatment efficiency, and ameliorate patient outcomes. One revolutionary solution in biomedical technology and diagnostic bio-instrumentation is the biomedical sensor, an analytical device capable of transducing biological signals into electrical signals to detect and quantify chemical substances or biological molecules with robust sensitivity. Conducting polymers (CPs) are a pivotal advancement in biosensor design due to their biocompatibility, inherent and tunable electroactivity, selectivity, and inexpensive synthesis. CP-based biosensors pave the way for minimally invasive, continuous patient monitoring, wearable, flexible, and implantable applications, personalized diagnoses, point-of-care treatments, early disease interventions, and affordable devices for underserved populations. This comprehensive review will cover different types, and characterization of conducting polymers commonly used in biosensors, followed by an introduction to types of biosensors, the requirements and challenges of biomedical sensor design, and recent advancements in the field, the lattermost focusing on the benefits of employing conducting polymers. Finally, CP-based biosensors for pathogen, DNA, protein, and early disease detection are reviewed.