Nanomedicine

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What you need to know about Nanomedicine

Nanomedicine is the application of nanotechnology in the medical field. It can range from nanomaterials and biological devices to nanoelectronics biosensors. The main problem of nanomedicine is dealing with the problems of toxicity and the impact environmentally of nanoscale materials. Some of the useful applications of nanomedicine are in both in-vivo and in-vitro biomedical research. During the integration of nanomaterials with biology has led to the creation of contrast agents, diagnostic devices, analytical tools, drug delivery vehicles, and physical therapy applications. In 2015, nanomedicine sales reached $16 billion with $3.8 billion in research and development every year. In recent years, global funding for nanotechnology has increased by 45%. Overall, the nanomedicine is expected to have a significant impact on the economy.

Drug Delivery

One of the important applications of nanotechnology is delivery drugs to certain cell using nanoparticles. This form of targeted drug delivery is supposed to reduce side effects of drugs with decreases in consumption. One of the benefits of using nanotechnology for medical treatment is that smaller devices can be planted in the body more easily and are less invasive. These devices are faster and more effective in certain areas of drug delivery.

Imaging

One area that nanotechnology is in vivo imaging. Nanoparticle contrast agents are used in MRI’s and ultrasounds to create an image with favorable distribution and contrast. Nanoparticles have also found use in cardiovascular imaging to help visualize blood pooling, angiogenesis, ischemia, atherosclerosis, and focal areas with inflammation.

Oncology has also found a use for nanoparticles because of there small size. Nanoparticles along with MRI scans produce good images of tumor sites. They way it works is nanoparticles of cadmium selenide are seep into tumors when injected, which then glow when exposed to ultraviolet light. Surgeons can then more accurately remove the tumor. They produce higher contrast images with a lower cast than organic dies used in medicine. One of the problems with this is that these nanoparticles are made with toxic elements.

Medical Devices

One of the goals of nanotechnology is creating a nanodevice that help connect a computer to a person’s nervous system. To do that, a molecular structure must be build that will control and detect impulses by a nervous system and send them to a computer. There are some problems with this idea, one being controlling overheating. Plus, it must not cause problems for areas outside of the nervous system.