Biomedical Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
21.4.4.6 Needle-Free, Painless Vaccinations with Nanopatches.......................................374
21.4.4.7 Nanomagnets Remove Pathogens from Blood ...................................................375
21.4.4.8 Nanocrystalline Silver ........................................................................................375
21.4.4.9 Nanospheres ....................................................................................................376
21.5 Contribution of Microbiology to Nanotechnology .............................................................................376
21.6 AFM Imaging of Microorganisms ....................................................................................................377
21.6.1 Yeast................................................................................................................... 377
21.6.2 Bacteria .............................................................................................................. 378
21.6.3 AFM Study of the Structure-Function Relationship of the Biofilm-Forming
Bacterium
Streptococcus mutans
........................................................................... 378
21.6.4 Viruses ................................................................................................................ 380
21.7 Nanoplasmonic Sensors Detecting Live Viruses ..............................................................................381
21.8 Nanodentistry ...............................................................................................................................382
21.8.1 The Impact of Nanotechnology .............................................................................. 382
21.8.1.1 Dynamic View of Dental Tissues.........................................................................383
21.8.1.2 What Are We Really Bonding to?........................................................................384
21.8.1.3 “Small Is Beautiful” of Dental Science: Small Structures, Great Strength ............384
21.8.1.4 Biofilm Formation and Treatment.......................................................................385
21.8.2 Nanotechnology in Periodontics ............................................................................. 386
21.8.2.1 Local Anesthesia and Hypersensitivity Cure .......................................................386
21.8.2.2 Natural Tooth Maintenance and Repair..............................................................386
21.8.2.3 Nanorobotic Dentifrice (Dentifrobots).................................................................387
21.9 Conclusions..................................................................................................................................387
References ............................................................................................................................................387
21.1
INTRODUCTION
Nanotechnology is the study, design, creation, synthesis, manipulation, and application of materi-
als, devices, and systems at the nanometer scale (one meter consists of 1 billion nanometers)
[1]
.
Nanotechnology (sometimes shortened to “nanotech”) is the study of manipulating matter on an atomic
and molecular scale. Generally nanotechnology deals with structures sized between 1 and 100 nm in at
least one dimension and involves developing materials or devices within that size. Much of the study
of nanoscience relates to the phenomenon of self-assembly in which nanoscale building blocks self-
assemble to form complex structures. Microbiology relates to nanoscience at a number of levels. Many
bacterial entities are nanomachines in nature, including molecular motors like
flagella
and
pili
. Bacteria
also form biofilms by the process of self-assembly (e.g., the formation of Curli-film by
Eschericia coli
).
The formation of aerial hyphae by bacteria and fungi is also directed by the controlled and ordered
assembly of building blocks. In addition, the formation of virus capsids is a classical process of molecular
recognition and self-assembly at the nanoscale. Another completely different aspect is the use of nanoor-
dered bacterial assemblies for nanotechnology. Nanoscience impacts several areas of microbiology. It
allows for the study and visualization at the molecular assembly level of a process and facilitates identi-
fication of molecular recognition and self-assembly motifs and the assessment of these processes. These
are relevant to many microbial processes as mentioned above.
