Organic bioelectronics in infection

Abstract

Organic bioelectronics is a rapidly growing field of both academic and industrial interest. Specific attributes make this class of materials particularly interesting for biomedical and medical applications, and a whole new class of biologically compatible devices is being created owing to structural and functional similarities to biological systems. In parallel, modern advances in biomedical research call for dynamically controllable systems. In infection biology, a progressing bacterial infection can be studied dynamically, at much higher resolution and on a smaller spatial scale than ever before, and it is now understood that minute changes in the tissue microenvironment play pivotal roles in the outcome of infections. This review merges the fields of infection biology and organic bioelectronics, describing the ability of conducting polymer devices to sense, modify, and interact with the infected tissue microenvironment. Though the primary focus is from the perspective of bacterial infections, general examples from cell biology and regenerative medicine are included where relevant. Spatially and temporally controlled biomimetic in vitro systems will greatly aid our molecular understanding of the infection process, thereby providing exciting opportunities for organic bioelectronics in future diagnosis and treatment of infectious diseases.