BIOMEDICAL AND BIOMEDICINE APPLICATIONS OF CNTs - Bio-Inspired and Nanoscale Integrated Computing - page 494

tumors can be investigated by determining if the drug crosses the blood-brain
barrier or not. Other applications to be investigated include the use of CNTs to
deliver drugs to the eye beyond the blood-retina barrier and to the central nervous
system beyond the blood-brain barrier. If this is found successful, CNTs can be
used for treating eye diseases and other diseases such as Alzheimer's and
Parkinson's. Another interesting area invokes using CNTs as pills that contain
a miniaturized video system. The swallowed pill can be used for assessing diseases
in areas that are difficult to access with other techniques such as endoscopies and
colonoscopies.
18.3.2.2. Drug Discovery. Traditional trial and error methods have very
high lead time that takes several years for a new drug to reach the market. The
critical bottlenecks in drug discovery may be overcome by using arrays of CNT
sensors and current information technology solutions (such as data mining and
computer-aided drug design) for identification of genes and genetic materials for
drug discovery and development [32].
18.3.2.3. Implantable Materials and Devices
I MPLANTABLE N ANOSENSORS AND N ANOROBOTS . There are certain cases, such as
diabetes, where regular tests by patients themselves are required to measure and
control the sugar level in the body. Children and elderly patients may not be able
to perform this test properly. Another similar example is regular tests of persons
exposed to hazardous radiations or chemicals. The objective is the detection of
the disease in its early stage so that appropriate action for higher chances of
success can be taken. Implantable sensors and nanorobots can be useful in health
assessment. CNT-based nanosensors have the advantages that they consume less
power and are a thousand times smaller than even microelectromechanical
systems (MEMS) sensors. Therefore, because of their small size and less power
consumption, CNT-based nanosensors are highly suitable as implantable sensors.
Implanted sensors can be used for monitoring pulse, temperature and blood
glucose, and diagnosing diseases [33, 34]. Besides, CNTs can be used for repairing
damaged cells or killing them by targeting tumors through chemical reactions.
Implantable nanosensors can also monitor the heart's activity level and
regulate heartbeats by working with an implantable defibrillator. Possible appli-
cation of CNTs for treatment of retinal diseases due to loss of photoreceptors can
be investigated. One way of to compensate for the loss of photoreceptors is to
bypass the destroyed photoreceptors and artificially stimulate the intact cells in the
neighborhood. Another possible area related to the application of CNTs that can
be investigated is cochlear implants related to hearing problems. According to
Bhargava [35], implanted nanorobots can have following possible applications:
1. Cure skin diseases. A cream-containing nanorobots could remove the right
amount of dead skin, remove excess oils, add missing oils, and apply the
right amount of moisturizing compounds.