Evidence map›Paper›PMID 40701952›Full record

ArticleNature communications2025

Ultrasensitive label-free optical recording of bioelectric potentials using dioxythiophene-based electrochromic polymers.

Yuecheng Zhou, Erica Liu, Anna M Österholm, Austin L Jones, Pengwei Sun, Yang Yang, Ching-Ting Tsai, Tomasz Zaluska, Wei Zhang, Holger Müller and 2 more

Abstract read
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Article in Nature communications, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 3 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
3citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

3 citing papers in PubMed.

  1. Review
  2. Article
  3. Spatially Controlled, Wirefree, Drug Release along a Single PEDOT Film.Langmuir : the ACS journal of surfaces and colloids · 2026
    Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

12 authors.

Yuecheng ZhouDepartment of Chemistry, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, USA.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-3105-7697
Erica LiuDepartment of Chemistry, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, USA.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-1193-0049
Anna M ÖsterholmSchool of Chemistry and Biochemistry, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, GA, USA.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0001-6621-8238
Austin L JonesSchool of Chemistry and Biochemistry, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, GA, USA.
Pengwei SunWu Tsai Neurosciences Institute, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, USA.
Yang YangDepartment of Chemistry, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, USA.
Ching-Ting TsaiDepartment of Chemistry, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, USA.
Tomasz ZaluskaWu Tsai Neurosciences Institute, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, USA.
Wei ZhangDepartment of Chemistry, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, USA.
Holger MüllerDepartment of Physics, University of California, Berkeley, CA, USA.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0003-0636-5951
John R ReynoldsSchool of Chemistry and Biochemistry, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, GA, USA.
Bianxiao CuiDepartment of Chemistry, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, USA. bcui@stanford.edu.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-8044-5629

Funding

Label-free Optical Recording of Neuroelectric ActivitiesR01NS121934 · NINDS · STANFORD UNIVERSITY · PI CUI, BIANXIAO, MUELLER, HOLGER · 2021 to 2025
$2.2M
Graduate Training Program in BiotechnologyT32GM141819 · NIGMS · STANFORD UNIVERSITY · PI Eric Andrew Appel, Fan Yang · 2021 to 2026
$1.9M
National Science Foundation (NSF) ECCS-2026822NIGMS NIH HHS T32 GM141819NINDS NIH HHS R01 NS121934SU | Stanford Bio-X Bowes FellowshipUnited States Department of Defense | United States Navy | Office of Naval Research (ONR) N00014-22-1-2185U.S. Department of Health & Human Services | National Institutes of Health (NIH) R01NS121934
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Dioxythiophene-based polymers are electrochromic, effectively converting electric potentials into optical signals through voltage-dependent changes in absorption. The electrochromic property of these π-conjugated polymers can be harnessed to transform miniscule bioelectric signals, such as neuronal action potentials, into optical readouts. To enhance sensitivity, we investigated the impact of backbone and side-chain chemistry of dioxythiophene-based polymers. Among them, P(OE3)-E, a copolymer of oligoether-functionalized 3,4-propylenedioxythiophene with unsubstituted 3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene, exhibits the highest electrochromic sensitivity for optical bioelectric potential detection. A crucial factor in optimizing detection sensitivity is aligning the electric potential that triggers the sharpest optical transition in electrochromic polymers with the redox potential of the biological environment. Using P(OE3)-E thin films, we reliably detected field potentials from isolated rat hearts, extracellular action potentials of stem cell-derived cardiomyocytes, and spontaneous action potentials of dissociated rat hippocampal neurons. Our results achieved a detection sensitivity of ~3.3 µV with sub-millisecond temporal resolution, matching that of traditional electrode-based recordings while eliminating the constraints of electrode patterning or placement. This work highlights the significant potential of π-conjugated polymers for advancing bioelectric detection technologies.

Indexed as

PolymersThiophenesAction PotentialsAnimalsHippocampusMaleMyocytes, CardiacNeuronsRatsRats, Sprague-DawleyPolymersThiophenes

Identifiers

PMID40701952
PMCPMC12287533

What Socratic holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY-NC-ND
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the Socratic graph.