Nano in Healthcare
The use of nanotechnology in medicine offers some exciting possibilities. Some techniques are only imagined, while others are at various stages of testing, or actually being used today.
Nanotechnology in medicine involves applications of nanoparticles currently under development, as well as longer range research that involves the use of manufactured nano-robots to make repairs at the cellular level (sometimes referred to as nanomedicine).
Whatever you call it, the use of nanotechnology in the field of medicine could revolutionize the way we detect and treat damage to the human body and disease in the future, and many techniques only imagined a few years ago are making remarkable progress towards becoming realities.
Nanotechnology in Medicine Application: Drug Delivery
One application of nanotechnology in medicine currently being developed involves employing nanoparticles to deliver drugs, heat, light or other substances to specific types of cells (such as cancer cells). Particles are engineered so that they are attracted to diseased cells, which allows direct treatment of those cells. This technique reduces damage to healthy cells in the body and allows for earlier detection of disease.
For example, nanoparticles that deliver chemotherapy drugs directly to cancer cells are under development. Tests are in progress for targeted delivery of chemotherapy drugs and their final approval for their use with cancer patients is pending. One company, CytImmune has published the results of a Phase 1 Clinical Trial of their first targeted chemotherapy drug and another company, BIND Biosciences, has published preliminary results of a Phase 1 Clinical Trial for their first targeted chemotherapy drug and is proceeding with a Phase 2 Clinical Trial.
Researchers at Georgia State University are using nanoparticles in a influenza vaccine that targets a portion of the virus that is present in all influenza viruses. Their intent is to develop a vaccine that will work on all influenza viruses.
Researchers at the Wyss Institue are testing nanoparticles that release drugs when subjected to sheer force, such as occurs when passing through a section of artery that is mostly blocked by a clot. Lab tests on animals have shown that this method is effective in delivering drugs used to dissolve clots.The Read more about their study here.
Researchers at the Houston Methodist Research Institute have demonstrated a targeted drug delivery method in mice using silicon nanoparticles that degrade inside a tumor, releasing polymer strands that form a nanoparticle containing the drug to be delivered. This polymer nanoparticle dissolves inside the cancer cell, delivering the drug to the cancer cell.
Researchers at the University of Illinois have demonstated that gelatin nanoparticles can be used to deliver drugs to damaged brain tissue more efficently than standard methods. This has been demonstrated in the lab, the researchers hope that this method will result in more effective drug delivery for brain injuries.
Researchers at MIT are investigating the use of nanoparticles to deliver vaccine.The nanoparticles protect the vaccine, allowing the vaccine time to trigger a stronger immune response as shown in lab tests with mice. Additional work needs to be done to adapt the technique to human patients.
Reserchers are developing a method to release insulin that uses a sponge-like matrix that contains insulin as well as nanocapsules containing an enzyme. When the glucose level rises the nanocapsules release hydrogen ions, which bind to the fibers making up the matrix. The hydrogen ions make the fibers positively charged, repelling each other and creating openings in the matrix through which insulin is released. So far this has been shown to be effective in tests with lab mice.