Nanotechnology provides tools for understanding and treating disease at the nanoscale. Nanomaterials can interact specifically with biological components like proteins and DNA, allowing them to induce or stop metabolic reactions. These nanomaterials are also used in miniaturized diagnostic devices like biosensors and lab-on-a-chip technologies to provide fast, sensitive analysis from small samples without a laboratory. Nanosized drug delivery systems aim to target drugs solely to diseases, quickly and accurately, by entrapping or encapsulating drugs within polymer scaffolds or reservoirs at the nanoscale to reduce side effects.

1. Nanotechnology in Medicine
Nanotechnology provides novel tools to understand, see and treat diseases.
•Nanomaterials can be given biological functionalities so they can interact with cells and their constituents
(proteins, lipids,
(proteins lipids DNA etc) in a specific way If the nanomaterials are correctly functionalised they can induce or
way.
stop certain metabolic reactions.
•Nanomaterials are often the same size as (or smaller than) many biological structures and processes.
Disease understanding Lab-on-a-chip and biosensors
The reasons for many An AFM image of an
debilitating diseases are amyloid fibril, thought •Highly sensitive miniature diagnostic devices are being
to be linked to developed to give accurate, fast diagnosis from a small
still unknown but recent diseases such as
nanotechnological amount of fluid.
Alzheimer’s.
advances have allowed us (image: T. Knowles, •Samples will not need to be sent away to a laboratory for
to study biological University of analysis, saving time and resources.
processes in much greater Cambridge) •Miniaturized diagnostic devices include biosensors,
depth. microarrays and ‘lab-on-a-chip’ (LOC) devices, also called
miniaturized total analysis systems (µTAS)
Lab-on-a-chip
Disease treatment •Miniaturised integrated laboratories that allow the separation
•Traditionally most drugs are administered and analysis of biological samples (e.g., blood) in a single
either orally or by injection. This leads to some device.
problems: •They are made of microfluidic systems, including micro-
•Therapeutic effects may be reduced by the pumps and micro-valves, integrated with microelectronic
time the drug reaches it t
ti th d h its target. t components. The device can also integrate one or more
•Injections can be painful, difficult to sensors.
administer, expensive and potentially •Nanotechnology can miniaturise the components and improve
dangerous. specific functions e.g. through the use of nanosized electrodes
or nanopore-membranes.
• Aim – to design a drug that solely targets a
disease, quickly and accurately, with no side- Biosensors
effects. •Designed to recognise a specific biomolecular species, and
being able to signal its presence, activity or concentration.
•Nanosized drug delivery systems may be: •Examples include:
•Target specific, so healthy cells will not be
Target Cantilever sensors
damaged and less of the drug will be The surface of the cantilever is
required. functionalised with a nanometre-
•Time-released (released continuously over thick layer of coating designed to
time to deliver continuous treatment). recognise specific biomolecules.
•How?
•Most nanosized drug delivery systems
either entrap the molecules within a M. Lorenzen, iNANO, University of Aarhus
biocompatible polymer scaffold or
Nanowire sensor devices
encapsulate it within a nanoscale reservoir.
The surface of a nanowire can
be functionalised so specific
Disease imaging biomolecules strongly bind,
Through careful design and changing its electronic properties
synthesis, multifunctional
This scanning electron micrograph
nanoparticles can be engineered depicts the functional part of a nano-
to specifically bind to certain biosensor containing silicon
types of species in the body (e.g. nanowires. (P Mohanty, Boston
cancerous cells, cholesterol). By University, NISE Network,
making the nanoparticles visible www.nisenet.org, licensed under NISE
to medical imaging techniques,
Repair of injured or network terms and conditions).
they can be used as markers or damaged tissues
tags to allow doctors to monitor The Vision of Theranostics
New biocompatible composite materials
the level and spread of disease. •Nanotechnology may enable the integration of disease
can be synthesised which will be taken
diagnosis, imaging, therapy and follow-up into a single
up by the body to repair damage e.g.
process – referred to as “theranostics”
through the use of nanoporous materials
•Drugs could be bound to nanoparticles (such as quantum
and biocompatible polymers..
dots) which undergo a property change (such as colour) once
the drug has reached the target.
•Together with a slow, targeted release system, the
nanoparticles could gradually change colour during the drug’s
action, therefore informing doctors of the p g
g progress of a
therapy.
•An example of theranostic is the use of gold nanoshells for
imaging and treating cancer cells at the same time.
These images show multimodality An optical microscope image of gold
imaging of atherosclerosis using This scanning electron microscope image
shows a hydrogel scaffold grown for studying nanoshells deposited on a glass microscope
nanocrystal-modified high density slide.
lipoproteins. [Adapted with permission brain tissue engineering and nerve
regeneration. (D Nisbet, Monash University, (G.Koeing, University of Wisconsin-Madison
from Cormode et al, Nano Letters 8 NISE Network, www.nisenet.org, licensed
(11) 3715 Copyright 2008 American NISE Network, www.nisenet.org, licensed
under NISE network terms and conditions). under NISE network terms and conditions).
Chemical Society]
www.nanoyou.eu