Nanotechnology in Medicine
Nanotechnology in Medicine When thinking of Nanotechnology one could think of the movie G. I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra. In the movie Cobra steals nanotech warheads and attacks the Eiffel Tower and it is destroyed by molecule sized machines in a matter of minutes. At this point in time nanotechnology is nowhere near this far along. Nanotechnology of today is about manipulating different types of matter on a molecular scale thus making them stronger and more durable (Williamson, Kenneth D. New Products). Hopefully we’ll be able to create the nanobots of G.
I. Joe in the near future but for now it is just science fiction. With the science of nanotechnology we can revolutionize the field of medicine like never before, destroy cancer in the human body without killing the host body and revolutionize diagnostic imaging technology. Nanotechnology in medicine is often referred to as Nano medicine. One of the first uses of nanotech in medicine was in the early nineties. Silver Nano crystals were developed and used as an ant-microbial agent in healing infections (Nanotech in Med. ilver coatings). Another use is in burn treatment. The burn dressing applied to burns is loaded with nanoparticle sized antibiotics that are released when encountering a foreign organism (Nanotech in Med. ) Another positive use for preventative care is the use of “Buckyballs”. Buckyballs are an accidental discovery made by Richard Smalley in the early 1980s; they are a form of carbon which has been found to be able to purify any kind of water thus preventing people from catching water borne sicknesses (Nanotech’s Impact).
Currently the fight against cancer uses the bloodstream as the delivery system for toxic drugs. A cancer patient in the process of taking these drugs is subjected to a mind numbing array of horrible side effects. In 2012 a company, Bind Biosciences submitted clinical data on their use of nanotechnology to fight cancerous tumors. Their data shows that more of the cancer drug is delivered to the tumor and that there were marked improvements in anti-tumor activity. This process also reduced the toxicity to the patients and there was no new toxicity problems noted (Clinical Data.
Bind 014). This process will eventually be able to be used with all cancer types as soon as the process is approved. In the past it was hard to determine the exact position and shape of cancer tumors and impossible to deliver cancer fighting drugs to the tumor itself. With the advancement of diagnostic imaging it is now possible to deliver these drugs directly to the tumor itself. Now a person is injected with or drinks something infused with nano-particles and allows scientists a sharper image of the person’s body (Nanotech. Emerging Tool).
When patients drink the dye for M. R. I. imaging the dye wouldn’t last. Now the nano-particles being used have a long shelf life inside the body and can be used in subsequent imaging sessions (Nanotech. Emerging Tool). With nanotechnology it is also possible to track an individual cell through its journey in the body (Nanotech. Emerging Tool). At this time the United States of America has invested three point seven billion dollars in its own nanotechnology program and most other developed countries are following suit (Nanotech. Wikipedia).
Within the next fifteen years there are going to be some major leaps in technology due to the use of nanotechnology and the human life experience is going to be better than ever before in human history. It is already changing life as we know it and most people don’t even realize it. Works Cited Bennet-Woods, Debra. “Nanotecnology in Medicine:Implications of Converging Technologies on Humanity. ” Nanotecnology in Medicine:Implications of Converging Technologies on Humanity. 49. 4 (2006): 54-59. Web. 8 Apr. 2013. “Bind biosciences presents clinical data on bind 014. ” www. understandingnano. com. UNDERSTANDING NANO.
COM, 3 22 2013. Web. 3-22-2013. Ckakraborty, Mainak, Surangna Jain , and Vibha Rani. “Nanotechnology:Emerging Tool for Diagnostics and Therapeutics. ” ProQuest. Appl Biochem Biotechnol, 17 Aug 2011. Web. 8 Apr 2013. “Nanotechnology. ” wikipedia. wikipedia, 4 7 2013. Web. 7 Apr 2013. (“Nanoparticles and Their applications. ” Nanogloss. com. N. p. , 3 20 2013. Web. 3-20-2013. Williamson, Kenneth D. “Nanotechnology. ” Charleston Newspapers 18 Nov 2007, Sunday Gazette 1C. Web. 8 Apr. 2013. ProQuest www. understandingnano. com. ” www. understandingnano. com. understandingnano. com, 3 20 2013. Web. 8 Apr 2013.
