Biomedical Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
Nanopharmacology, although still in its early stages, has witnessed an over-
hauling of the conventional pharmacology through changes in drug engineering
design and development, manufacture of nano-enabled drug or drug carrier, and
the application of nanoscale molecular species in drug formulations and drug
release. All these are geared toward achieving the promise of NMs in improving
the curative capabilities of conventional drugs as well as to harness the diagnos-
tic efficacy of modern diagnostic instruments. To date, multiple NMs have been
complexed to drugs and various biomolecules with the goal of improving the
diagnostic and therapeutic capabilities for various diseases.
A portion of nanopharmacology that is still in its infancy, is the area of
“theranostics” that refers to the combination of diagnostics and therapeutics.
Research on the multifunctional capabilities of NMs are on-going to combine
the detection and therapeutic functions in a single nanoparticle. This integra-
tion allows the imaging detection of therapeutic delivery as well as perform
informed observation to assess the treatment efficacy. Although research in this
area has barely just begun, the NMs that are already used as imaging agents that
can be readily adopted to the theranostics agents category by loading therapeu-
tic agents and/or functions on them. Combining both the targeting and thera-
peutic requirements using especially designed and engineered NMs brings the
two individual areas together that will eventually bring the benefit to the patient.
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