Nanotechnology in Medicine

 

Nanotechnology in Medicine

We are at the beginning of the nanomedicine era. Nanoparticles and nanodevices, I believe, will soon be used as precise medication delivery systems, cancer therapy tools, and miniature surgeons. Let me introduce you to the brave, new world of medical nanotechnology.

Your red and white blood cells are having nanobreakfast with nanorobots.

One of my favorite TV shows as a kid was a French animation called Il était une fois... la vie (1986). I thought it was fascinating how the creators envisioned the human body as a construction site where tiny cars floated through the veins, grab-cranes worked on teeth, bacteria as tiny monsters tried to attack innocent screaming lady-cells, and white blood cells defended the body like well-trained soldiers. In a similar vein, the 1966 film Fantastic Voyage depicted a medical team being shrunk to tiny proportions in order to save the life of a renowned scientist. The crew of the Argonauts travels via the bloodstream to the brain, where they use a laser gun to blow a blood clot away.

Consider what would happen if all of this happened in real life... How about a nanometer-sized cage that releases insulin while avoiding our immune system's attack? For Parkinson's disease treatment, how about a nanorobot that delivers dopamine directly to the brainstem? How about administering chemotherapy to cancer cells while leaving healthy cells alone? Could you picture microscopic robots within your body delivering notifications to your smartphone when a sickness is going to develop? The word symptom would be completely deleted from our medical dictionaries in such a scenario.

Sounds like something out of a science-fiction novel, doesn't it?

If you believe that nanorobots and tailored nanoparticles exist only in the worlds described by Jules Verne or Greg Egan in his novel Diaspora, you may not be aware of the 2016 Nobel Prize in Chemistry winners. It was given to great scientists Jean-Pierre Sauvage, Sir J. Fraser Stoddart, and Bernard L. Feringa for developing molecules that could move in a controlled manner. Although molecular nanotechnology is still in its infancy, the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences recognizes nanotechnology's enormous potential by awarding the Nobel Prize to these three scientists, as Gizmodo points out.

So, how did nanotechnology in medicine get to where it is now, and how will it impact healthcare in the future?

"Nano" refers to sculptures that are smaller than micro-sculptures on pin-point accuracy.

Nanotechnology is beyond the comprehension of the typical human intellect since it operates on a different level. Somewhere between the atomic and molecular levels. Do you recall the micro-sculptures in a needle's eye? These are nonetheless enormous when compared to the nanoscale, the primary unit of measurement in nanotechnology. An ant's length is a million times smaller than a nanometer. A sheet of paper has a thickness of around 100,000 nanometers. The distance between the Earth and a child's marble is roughly equal to the distance between a meter and a nanometer.

Nanotechnology is defined as science, engineering, and technology carried out at the nanoscale, which ranges from 1 to 100 nanometers. It entails manipulating and regulating materials on an atomic and molecular scale. Isn't it incredible?

From tiny "demons" to nanorobots in bloodstreams, the story of nanotechnology in medicine is fascinating.

Scottish physicist James Clerk Maxwell imagined microscopic "demons" that could reroute atoms one at a time in an 1871 thought experiment. However, before the introduction of nanotechnology, there was a long way to go. In the 1950s, MIT scientist Arthur Robert von Hippel created the term molecular engineering. The eminent physicist Richard Feynman described how the complete Encyclopaedia Britannica could be inscribed on the top of a pin and how all the world's books could fit in a pamphlet in his after–dinner speech at the annual meeting of the American Physical Society on the evening of December 29, 1959.

Kim Eric Drexler, an MIT undergraduate in the mid–1970s, continued the thought experiment by imagining that molecule–sized machines could make nearly anything. Drexler described nanotechnology's future role in changing various fields of science and technology, including health, artificial intelligence, and astronomy, in his book. His "assembler" concept could "put atoms in practically any plausible order," allowing us to make almost anything that the rules of nature allow.

Carbon nanotubes, which are nearly 100 times stronger than steel but only one–sixth the weight, were discovered in 1991 and exhibit remarkable heat and conductivity properties. Carbon nanostructure composite is used by the Juno spacecraft on its approach to Jupiter to provide electrical grounding, discharge static, and reduce weight. It was always going to happen that this technology would be applied in medicine. We're about to arrive at this point.

 

Under the microscope, there are many different types of nano.

Nanotechnology is divided into two categories. The first is a Drexlerian molecule-sized machine that can construct and alter its environment on an atomic level. The second is "biological" nanotech, which essentially exploits DNA and life's machinery to construct unique protein or DNA structures (as a building material).

An Origami Robot Made of Pig Tissue Provides a Non-Invasive Method of Recovering Swallowed Batteries

1) Microbots and nanoswimmers that look like scallops

Researchers at the Max Planck Institute have been working with extremely small – less than a millimeter – robots that could be used to give medications or other medical relief in a highly targeted manner through your internal fluids. These scallop-like microbots are made to swim through non-Newtonian fluids such as your bloodstream, lymphatic system, or the slick goo on the surface of your eyeballs.

 

Researchers from ETH Zurich and Technion have produced an elastic polypyrrole (Ppy) nanowire that is 15 micrometers long and 200 nanometers thick and can travel through biological fluid conditions at about 15 micrometers per second. The nanoswimmers may, for example, be designed to transport medications and magnetically controlled to swim through the circulation to cancer cells.

 

2) Origami robots made of DNA

One of the most forward–thinking research demonstrated that DNA–based nanorobots may be implanted inside a living cockroach and then conduct logical processes, such as releasing a chemical held within it, when given a command. These nanorobots, often known as origami robots because of their ability to unfold and transport medications, may one day be able to carry out complex programming such as diagnosis or treatments. The precision with which these nanobots, which are the equivalent of a computer system, are delivered and controlled is one of the most amazing feats. The other is that DNA can be designed using the same basic design concepts that apply to full-size machine parts

3) Nanoengines that look like ants

Magnetic control allows ant–like robots to move quickly, locate objects, and use tools. They can build three–dimensional structures at breakneck speed while moving through even the most flexible surfaces. They have the potential to change biotechnology as well as electronics production.

 

The world's tiniest engine, comprised of gold nanoparticles bonded together with temperature-responsive gel polymers and capable of a force per unit-weight approximately 100 times greater than any motor or muscle, has been developed by University of Cambridge researchers. The nanomachine was given the moniker ANT by the researchers since ants produce a lot of force for their weight.

4) Microrobots inspired by sperm

MagnetoSperm, a sperm-inspired microrobot controlled by mild oscillating magnetic fields, was developed by a team of researchers from the University of Twente (Netherlands) and the German University in Cairo. The 322 micron-long robot encounters a magnetic torque on its head when it is exposed to an oscillating field of less than five millitesla — approximately the strength of your typical Manhattan fridge magnet — which causes its flagellum to oscillate and propel it forward.

 

MagnetoSperm can be used to manipulate and assemble items at nanoscales by controlling its motion with an external magnetic field. Researchers hope to reduce the size of the microrobot even more in the future. The researchers are currently developing a method for creating a magnetic nanofiber that can be utilized as a flagellum.

5) Nanorobots made of clottocytes

Although the term "clottocyte" may appear weird, it refers to an artificial mechanical platelet. These nanorobots work in the same way as platelets do when they adhere together to create a blood clot and halt bleeding. They could hold fibers until they came into contact with a wound, then distribute them in a fraction of the time it takes platelets to form a clot. Blood-related microbivore nanorobots function similarly to white blood cells and could be engineered to be more effective at killing bacteria and other invasive invaders.

 

 

6) Robots powered by bacteria

Engineers at Drexel University have devised a method for harnessing electric fields to aid small bacteria-powered robots in detecting and navigating around obstacles in their environment. It means that robots use electric fields to navigate and can be programmed to go to a certain location, change their route, or avoid/pass through things.

 

Bacteria-powered robots could revolutionize healthcare by, for example, delivering medication precisely where it is required, manipulating stem cells to regulate their growth, or constructing a microstructure.

7) Nanorobots made by respirocytes

These little animals act like red blood cells, but they have the ability to transport far more oxygen than real red blood cells do for anemia patients (when the body does not have enough healthy red blood cells). They could also include sensors that monitor oxygen levels in the bloodstream. Blood may one day serve as a storehouse for nanorobots as well as a symbiotic relationship between them and our human cells.

I believe that the medical community, as well as the general people, should learn about the specifics of nanotechnology as soon as possible in order to be prepared for the future. We should also begin a discussion about the ethical and philosophical challenges surrounding nanobots, in my opinion. We should form groups of bioethicists who can assist society in properly assessing dangers and assisting decision-makers in regulating the use of nanotechnology in medicine for the general good.