NanoTech and NanoMedical Applications
What is NanoTech?
Nanotechnology involves the creation and use of materials and devices at the level of molecules and atoms. Research in nanotechnology began with discoveries of novel physical and chemical properties of various metallic or carbon-based materials that only appear for structures at nanometer-sized dimensions. Understanding these nanoscale properties permits engineers to build new structures and use these materials in new ways. The same holds true for the biological structures inside living cells of the body. Researchers have developed powerful tools, nanites and nanobots, to extensively categorize the parts of cells in vivid detail, and we know a great deal about how these intracellular structures operate. At long last, scientists have been able to answer questions concerning cellular processes such as, "How many?" "How big?" and "How fast?" These answers provide full understanding of cellular structures in order to help repair them or build new "nano" structures that can safely operate inside the body.
What is Nanomedicine?
What if doctors could search out and destroy the very first cancer cells that would otherwise have caused a tumor to develop in the body? What if a broken part of a cell could be repaired, or removed and replaced with a miniature biological machine? What if pumps the size of molecules could be implanted to deliver life-saving medicines precisely when and where they are needed? These goals have all been realized, thanks to the Nanomedicine initiative.
Nanomedicine, an offshoot of nanotechnology, refers to highly specific medical intervention at the molecular scale for curing disease or repairing damaged tissues, such as bone, muscle, or nerve. A nanometer is one-billionth of a meter, too small to be seen with a conventional lab microscope. It is at this size scale – about 100 nanometers or less – that biological molecules and structures inside living cells operate. The result? Better diagnostic tools and engineered nanoscale structures, nanobots and nanites, for more specific treatments of diseased or damaged tissues.