Biomedical Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
Bionanotechnology and nanomedicine are rather promising areas for
nanotechnology. Applications will probably include diagnostics, imaging techniques,
materials for prosthetics, and drug delivery. Other applications may be as supporting
structures in biomaterials and medical devices including the use in scaffolds for tissue
engineering. Micro- and nano-grooves present on material surfaces may direct cellular
growth; however, cell behavior is also influenced by chemical coating.
Private and public research efforts worldwide are developing nanoproducts
aimed at improving health care and advancing medical research. Some of these
products have entered the marketplace, more are on the verge of doing so, and
others remain more a vision than a reality. The potential for these innovations is
enormous, but questions remain about their long-term safety and the risk-benefit
characteristics of their usage. Since 2000, when former President Bill Clinton
announced the founding of the U.S. National Nanotechnology Initiative (NNI),
governments in Europe, Japan, and other Asian nations have responded with
competitive investments in national nano programs. The European Commission, a
body of the European Union (EU) that funds about 24 % of the publicly financed
research in the EU, and the Union's 15 member nations will spend about $180
million on nanotechnology in 2002. The NNI budget for fiscal year (FY) 2002 is
$604 million, including $40.8 million for the National Institutes of Health (NIH).
For FY 2003, proposed budgets amount to $710.2 million in the United States, and
between $270 and $315 million in the EU.
Three applications of nanotechnology are particularly suited to biomedicine:
diagnostic techniques, drugs, and prostheses and implants. Interest is booming in
biomedical applications for use outside the body, such as diagnostic sensors and
''labon- a-chip'' techniques, which are suitable for analyzing blood and other
samples, and for inclusion in analytical instruments for R&D on new drugs. For
inside the body, many companies are developing nanotechnology applications for
anticancer drugs, implanted insulin pumps, and gene therapy. Other researchers are
working on prostheses and implants that include nanostructured materials.
Nanotechnology in Medicine: Application
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 researches that
involve the use of manufactured nanorobots to make repairs at the cellular level.
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