Towards All-Polymeric Cochlear Implant Micro-Electrode Arrays

This paper shows that PEDOT:PSS is an excellent material for all-polymeric cochlear implant micro-electrode arrays. Initial experiments have shown a high conductivity of 230 S/cm for PEDOT:PSS samples, which dramatically decreased to 0.48 S/cm after 3 hours of UV treatment. Electrical characterisation of PEDOT:PSS electrodes reveals that its maximum charge injection capacity is 15 times higher than that of platinum, the electrode material used in commercial cochlear implants. These experiments demonstrate that PEDOT:PSS is an excellent candidate material for cochlear implants, both as micro-electrode and insulating layer.