Tuesday, October 16, 2012

Nanotechnology in Medicine

Here is an interesting article discussing the impact of nanotechnology on the medical field. Catharine Paddock, PhD defines nanotechnology in the following fashion:

“the manipulation of matter at the atomic and molecular scale to create materials with remarkably varied and new properties, is a rapidly expanding area of research with huge potential in many sectors, ranging from healthcare to construction and electronics.”

For the uninitiated, the nanoscale is incredibly small; one nanometer is approximately 3-5 atoms thick or about 40,000 times thinner than the human hair. Working at such microscopic levels gives scientists the ability to exploit interesting structures and properties of nanomaterials.  Such innovation technology is extremely promising for the medical industry; nanotechnology “promises to revolutionize drug delivery, gene therapy, diagnostics, and many areas of research, development and clinical application.”

Many of the applications of nanotechnology with regards to medical implants will be presented here as well as the concerns highlighted in the article about nanotechnology in general.

One use of nanotechnology is the fabrication of nanobots in the treatment of patients of various diseases. The primary benefit of nanobots is that it allows for the precise delivery of drugs. These nanobots bind to specific targeted molecules in the body and then release the drug they are carrying upon contact. Materials like gold have been researched and used for the fabrication of nanobots. An idea proposed by a MIT research team is to create nanomaterials that fabricate drugs at the site of the disease in the body. This solves the problem of drugs breaking down while being delivered to disease sites. 1

Like many other parts of science, fibers have recently been taken to the nanoscale as well. Fibers with “diameters of less than 1,000 nm” are referred to as nanofibers. Nanofibers have shown to have extremely important applications in “wound dressings, tissue engineering,” and medical implants as well. Until the past few years, synthesizing nanofibers has been a painstaking, time-consuming, and very expensive process. Researchers have, however, come up with a new method for developing nanofibers. The secret lies in the nickel nanoparticles - because of their structure, they can help grow nanofibers at high temperatures. Of course, in a modern-day lab setting, attaining these high temperatures is extremely cost-effective, and thus, making nanofibers is now a relatively cheap process.

Lead nanofibers have achieved a niche in the field of surgery, where surgeons are using lead nanofiber meshes to repair certain membranes found in the brain and spinal cord. For these situations, extremely small and not thick particles are needed. The applications can also be extended to fixing “hernias, fistulas, and other injuries.” Due to their versatility, nanofibers can be considered extremely important in the field of surgery and medical implants.

The future of nanotechnology in medical implants is not as rosy as it seems. There exist many concerns and obstacles regarding nanotechnology. The production costs of creating these unique nanomaterials are costly and cannot be adopted on a big manufacturing scale. The safety of nanomaterials has not been studied as extensively as other materials. Although the National Cancer Institute in the US states that most nanomaterials are less toxic than common household products, there still exists much ambiguity surrounding nanomaterials in general. There are concerns about what would happen to the human body if nanomaterials do not break down and dissolve as they were engineered to do.

Nanotechnology has the potential to revolutionize the medical industry despite some drawbacks and concerns about it. Stay tuned to our blog as we seek to document discoveries and innovations for nanotech medical implants.


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