Biomedical Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
6.2.3 Nanoradiofrequency antennas
Studies are also being focused on more complex devices that include multicom-
ponent nanodevices called tectodendrimers that have a single-core dendrimer to
which additional dendrimer modules of different types are affixed that are designed
to perform specific function necessary for smart therapeutic nanodevices.
6,48,107
These nanomaterials can also be designed to provide some external control of
chemistry within cells through the use of devices such as tiny nano radiofrequency
antennas attached to DNA to control hybridization. Combining the excellent preci-
sion of nanomaterials with nanorobots allows a revolutionary approach to surgery
in the subcellular level. These nanorobots are comparable with the size of cells that
could provide significant medical benefits
2,3,27,108
but this requires that the nano-
robots be fabricated at low cost in large numbers. To carry this out, the nanorobots
may be created by engineering of biological systems such as attaching nanopar-
ticles to bacteria, by using the programs within bacterial genetic machinery,
19,22,26
and creating computers out of DNA that respond to logical combinations of chemi-
cals.
21
Nanoscale devices made of synthetic inorganic machines
8
could result from
studies on nanoscale electronics, sensors, and motors.
1,7,20,24,25,109
6.2.4 Applications of Nanorobots
One of the key benefits of nanorobots is that they can pass through the smallest
vessels of the circulatory system and can, thereby, approach the individual cells
of tissues to reach the desired locations and attach on these target cells through
engineering processes.
8,85
Nanorobots can be used for nanomanipulations dur-
ing “surgery at the nanoscale level.”
9,14
Nanorobots can be introduced into the
vascular system or body cavities, programmed, and controlled remotely by the
surgeon in order to be able to perform various diagnostic and therapeutic pre-
cisely with minimal invasion that leads to faster recovery, while allowing com-
munications with the on-site surgeon through signals.
9
One nanorobot that has been investigated is a rapidly vibrating (100 Hz)
micropipette with <1-micron tip that has been used to dissect the apical dendrites
of rat hippocampal CA1 pyramidal cells that resulted in complete disconnection
of dendrites while maintaining cell viability.
67
Femtosecond laser surgery was
used in axotomy performed in roundword neurons that resulted in complete
regeneration.
18
A similar femtosecond laser axotomy was performed on D-type
axons of
Caenorhabditis elegans
.
15
They used confocal microscopy and laser
scanning bright-field microscopy for real-time imaging of femtosecond laser
nanosurgery and its dynamics in
C. elegans
. In this nanosurgery, muscular con-
traction and single-muscle cell stimulation were imaged. Confocal fluorescence
imaging and laser scanning bright-field microscopy for real-time imaging were
used to study the development of incision and observation of possible presence
of any possible collateral damage and improvement of the technique. Other sur-
gical nanorobots outfitted with operating instruments and capable of precise
