Thus far, the integration of nanomaterials with biology has led to the development of diagnostic devices, contrast agents, analytical tools, physical therapy applications, and drug delivery vehicles.
[4][5] The National Nanotechnology Initiative expects new commercial applications in the pharmaceutical industry that may include advanced drug delivery systems, new therapies, and in vivo imaging.
[7] The goal of funding this newer form of science is to further develop the biological, biochemical, and biophysical mechanisms of living tissues.
Cytiva is a company that specializes in producing delivery systems for genomic medicines that are non-viral, including mRNA vaccines and other therapies utilizing nucleic acid and Ratiopharm is known for manufacturing Pazenir, a drug for various cancers.
[12] The overall drug consumption and side-effects may be lowered significantly by depositing the active pharmaceutical agent in the diseased region only and in no higher dose than needed.
[13][14] A benefit of using nanoscale for medical technologies is that smaller devices are less invasive and can possibly be implanted inside the body, plus biochemical reaction times are much shorter.
However, the biodistribution of these nanoparticles is still imperfect due to the complex host's reactions to nano- and microsized materials[23] and the difficulty in targeting specific organs in the body.
While advancement of research proves that targeting and distribution can be augmented by nanoparticles, the dangers of nanotoxicity become an important next step in further understanding of their medical uses.
[10] Advances in lipid nanotechnology were instrumental in engineering medical nanodevices and novel drug delivery systems, as well as in developing sensing applications.
[12] Some nanotechnology-based drugs that are commercially available or in human clinical trials include: In vivo imaging is another area where tools and devices are being developed.
In cardiovascular imaging, nanoparticles have potential to aid visualization of blood pooling, ischemia, angiogenesis, atherosclerosis, and focal areas where inflammation is present.
Multicolor optical coding for biological assays has been achieved by embedding different-sized quantum dots into polymeric microbeads.
They could take a very small amount of blood and detect cancer anywhere in the body in about five minutes, with a sensitivity that is a thousand times better a conventional laboratory test.
[46] In contrast to dialysis, which works on the principle of the size-related diffusion of solutes and ultrafiltration of fluid across a semi-permeable membrane, the purification using nanoparticles allows specific targeting of substances.
[48] The purification process is based on functionalized iron oxide or carbon coated metal nanoparticles with ferromagnetic or superparamagnetic properties.
Applying an external magnetic field gradient exerts a force on the nanoparticles, allowing them to be separated from the bulk fluid, thus removing contaminants.
The addition of these nanoparticles to the polymer matrix at low concentrations (~0.2 weight %) significantly improves in the compressive and flexural mechanical properties of polymeric nanocomposites.
The full potential and implications of nanotechnology uses within the tissue engineering are not yet fully understood, despite research spanning the past two decades.
[63] Ceria nanoparticles appear very promising for both enhancing vaccine responses and mitigating inflammation, as their adjuvanticity can be adjusted by modifying parameters such as size, crystallinity, surface state, and stoichiometry.
These virus-like nanoparticles are designed to elicit a strong immune response by using a self-assembled layer of virus capsid proteins.
[65][60] Neuro-electronic interfacing is a visionary goal dealing with the construction of nanodevices that will permit computers to connect and interact with the nervous system.
This idea requires the building of a molecular structure that will permit control and detection of nerve impulses by an external computer.
A nanoscale enzymatic biofuel cell for self-powered nanodevices have been developed, using glucose from biofluids such as human blood or watermelons.
[1][69][71] Future advances in nanomedicine could give rise to life extension through the repair of many processes thought to be responsible for aging.
[1] Raymond Kurzweil, a futurist and transhumanist, stated in his book The Singularity Is Near that he believes that advanced medical nanorobotics could completely remedy the effects of aging by 2030.
Hibbs suggested that certain repair machines might one day be reduced in size to the point that it would, in theory, be possible to (as Feynman put it) "swallow the doctor".
This section will highlight some of the regulatory considerations and challenges faced by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), the European Medicine Agency (EMA), and each manufacturing organization.
The major challenges that companies are reproducible manufacturing processes, scalability, availability of appropriate characterization methods, safety issues, and poor understandings of disease heterogeneity and patient preselection strategies.