Emerging trends of nanotechnology in biomedical engineering

International Journal of Electronics and CommunicationTechnology (IJECET),
International Journal of Electronics and Communication Engineering &
ISSN 0976 – 6464(Print), ISSN 0976 – 6472(Online) Volume 1, Number 1, Sep - Oct (2010), © IAEME
Engineering & Technology (IJECET)
ISSN 0976 – 6464(Print), ISSN 0976 – 6472(Online) IJECET
Volume 1, Number 1, Sep - Oct (2010), pp. 25-32
© IAEME, http://www.iaeme.com/ijecet.html
©IAEME

EMERGING TRENDS OF NANOTECHNOLOGY IN
BIOMEDICAL ENGINEERING
Ms.Kavita L.Awade
Dr .Babasaheb Ambedkar Technological University, Raigad
E-Mail: Kavitaawade@hotmail.com

ABSTRACT:
This paper main objective is to introduce the different applications of
nanotechnology. The introduction of Nanotechnology along with basic terms are included
in the paper. The method of generation of nanomaterial like nanoparticals, Ultra
nanoparticals, engineered nanoparticals and nanoaresol etc. is discussed. The potential of
the nanotechnology in the field og biomedical is explained in detail with the help of
nanorobots, etc is discussed in the paper.
INTRODUCTION:
Nanotechnology involves development of materials (and even complete systems)
at the atomic, molecular, or macromolecular levels in the dimension range of
approximately 1-500 nanometers. It is the manipulation of matter on a near-atomic scale
to produce new structures, materials, and devices. This technology has the ability to
transform many industries and to be applied in many ways to areas ranging from
medicine to manufacturing.
What is nanotechnology?
Nanotechnology involves the manipulation of matter at nanometer-length* scales
to produce new materials, structures, and devices. A technology is defined as
Nanotechnology only if it involves all of the following:
1. Research and technology development involving structures with at least one
dimension in the range of 1 to100 nanometers (nm), frequently with atomic/molecular
precision

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International Journal of Electronics and Communication Engineering & Technology (IJECET),

2. Creating and using structures, devices, and systems that have unique properties and
functions because of their nanometer-scale dimensions
3. The ability to control or manipulate on the atomic scale
Nanotechnology is an enabling technology that offers the potential for
unprecedented advances in many diverse fields. The ability to manipulate matter at the
atomic or molecular scale makes it possible to form new materials, structures, and
devices that exploit the unique physical and chemical properties associated with
nanometer-scale structures. The promise of Nanotechnology goes far beyond extending
the use of current materials. New materials and devices with intricate and closely
engineered structures will allow for (1) new directions in optics, electronics, and
optoelectronics; (2) development of new medical imaging and treatment technologies;
and (3) production of advanced materials with unique properties and high-efficiency
energy storage and generation. Although Nanotechnology-based products are generally
thought to be at the pre-competitive stage, an increasing number of products and
materials are becoming commercially available. These include nanoscale powders,
solutions, and suspensions of nanoscale materials as well as composite materials and
devices having a nonstructural.
*1 nanometer (nm) = 1 billionth of a meter (10-9).
Nanoscale titanium dioxide, for instance, is finding uses in cosmetics, sun-block
creams, and self-cleaning windows. And nanoscale silica is being used as filler in a range
of products, including dental fillings. Recently, a number of new or “improved”
consumer products using Nanotechnology have entered the market—for example, stain
and wrinkle-free fabrics incorporating “nanowhiskers and longer-lasting tennis balls
using butyl-rubber/nanoclay composites.
METHOD OF GENERATION OF NANOPARTICALS:
The power of Nanotechnology can be encapsulated in an apparently simple device
called a nanofactory that may sit on your countertop or desktop. Packed with miniature
chemical processors, computing, and robotics, it will produce a wide-range of items
quickly, cleanly, and inexpensively, building products directly from blueprints.

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Nanotechnology not only will allow making many high-quality products at very
low cost, but it will allow making new nanofactories at the same low cost and at the same
rapid speed. This unique ability to reproduce its own means of production is why
nanotech is said to be an exponential technology.
TERMINOLOGY
A. Nanoparticles
Nanoparticles are particles with diameters between 1 and 100 nm. Nanoparticles
may be suspended in a gas, suspended in a liquid, or embedded in a matrix.
B. Ultra fine particles
The term “ultra fine” is frequently used in the context of nanometer-diameter
particles that have not been intentionally produced but are the incidental products of
processes involving combustion, welding fume, or diesel exhaust.
C. Engineered nanoparticles
Engineered nanoparticles are intentionally produced, engineered nanoparticles are
designed with very specific properties, and collections of the particles in an aerosol,
colloid, or powder will reflect these properties.
D. Nanoaerosol
A nanoaerosol is a collection of nanoparticles suspended in a gas. The particles
may be present as discrete nanoparticles, or as agglomerates of nanoparticles. These
agglomerates may have diameters larger than 100 nm.
POTENTIAL CONCERN:
Nanotechnology is an emerging field. As such, there are many uncertainties as to
whether the unique properties of engineered nonmaterial also pose occupational health

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risks. These uncertainties arise because the characteristics of nonmaterial may be
different from those of the larger particles with the same chemical composition and
because of gaps in knowledge about the factors that are essential for predicting health
risks—factors such as routes of exposure, movement of materials once they enter the
body, and interaction of the materials with the body’s biological systems. In the case of
nonmaterial, the uncertainties are great.
A. Exposure routes:
The most common route of exposure to airborne particles in the workplace is by
inhalation. Like deposition of other types of airborne particles, discrete nanoparticle
deposition in the respiratory tract is determined by particle diameter. Agglomerates of
nanoparticles will deposit according to the diameter of the agglomerate, not constituent
nanoparticles.
B. Effects Seen in Animal Studies:
Experimental studies in rats have shown that at equivalent mass doses, tested
insoluble ultra fine particles are more potent than larger particles of similar composition
in causing pulmonary inflammation, tissue damage, and lung tumors.
C. Observations from Epidemiological Studies Involving Fine and Ultra
fine Particles
Epidemiological studies in workers exposed to aerosols including fine and ultra
fine particles have reported lung function decrements, adverse respiratory symptoms,
chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, and fibrosis.
WORKING WITH ENGINEERED NANOMATERIALS:
EXPOSURE CONTROL PROCEDURES
A. Engineering controls
In general, control techniques such as source enclosure and local exhaust
ventilation systems should be effective for capturing airborne nanoparticles, based on
what is known of nanoparticle motion and behavior in air.
B. Dust collection efficiency of filters
Current knowledge indicates that a well-designed exhaust ventilation system with
a high- efficiency particulate air filter should effectively remove nanoparticles.

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C. Work Practices
The incorporation of good work practices in a risk management program can help
to minimize worker exposure to nonmaterial.
D. Respirators
In the hierarchy of controls, respirators may be necessary when engineering and
administrative controls do not adequately keep worker exposures to an airborne
contaminant below a regulatory limit or an internal control target.
APPLICATIONS:
NANOROBOTS:
Nanorobotics is the technology of creating machines or robots at or close to the
scale of a nanometer (10-9 meters)
1. Medical Applications
• Nano Alert Systems
Nanobots would live in a person's bloodstream, and give an early alert to
the individual's doctor should s/he contract some virus. -This is the most likely use of
nanotechnology in near-future medicine,
• Fixed Function Prosthetic Nano
Nanotech devices can also be implanted with a single fixed function, i.e
for replacing some damaged or malfunctioning biological system like nano - restoring
sight or hearing, generating insulin, etc. Nanobots could also be used one day to fight
disease. They are small enough to destroy a virus, even to enter and repair a cell. It may
in fact be possible for nanobots to create new tissue.
• Permanent Nanobot Defense System
Disease would be handled before people have to suffer. Many lives could
be saved. Immune systems could be constantly updated to new pathogen.

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• Related work

Vasculoid is a rather futuristic medical appliance, It would line the interior of the
blood vessels, taking over the transport function of the blood. In other words, it would
replace the blood, but not replace the tubes. This should reduce blood borne infections
and should eliminate metastasizing cancer.
IMPLANTABLE DEVICS
• Retina Implants
Retinal implants are in development to restore vision by electrically stimulating
functional neurons in the retina One approach has been developed by various groups in
an artificial retina implanted in the back of the retina. The artificial retina uses a
miniature video camera.
Surgicals Aids
• Surgical Robotics
Robotic surgical systems are being developed to provide surgeons with
unprecedented control over precision instruments. This is particularly useful for
minimally invasive surgery. Instead of manipulating surgical instruments, surgeons use
their thumbs and fingers to move joystick handles on a control console to maneuver two
robot arms containing miniature instruments that are inserted into ports in the patient.
DIAGNOSTIC TOOLS
• Genetic Testing:
Nano and micro technologies provide new solutions for increasing the speed and
accuracy of identifying genes and genetic materials for drug discovery and development.

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• Ultra-sensitive Labeling and Detection Technologies
Several new technologies are being developed to improve the ability to label and
detect unknown target genes. The device would circulate freely throughout the body, and
would periodically sample its environment by determining whether the binding sites were
or were not occupied.
2. Space Science
Another avenue being investigated is a concept of nano robotics called "Swarms".
Swarms are nano robots that act in unison. They will act as a flexible cloth like material;
this cloth will be as strong as diamond. Smart cloth could be used in the astronaut’s space
suits. A.I computer capable of creating the science experiments needed reroute to its
destination and capable of not only making changes in mission plans but creating even
new experiments as they are needed or wanted.

3. Smart Materials
One proposed application of MNT is the development of so-called smart
materials. This term refers to any sort of material designed and engineered at the
nanometer scale to perform a specific task, and encompasses a wide variety of possible
commercial applications.
4. Utility Fog
Another proposed application of nanotechnology involves utility fog in which a
cloud of networked microscopic robots changes its shape and properties to form
macroscopic objects and tools in accordance with software commands. Rather than

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modify the current practices of consuming material goods in different forms, utility fog
would simply replace most physical objects.
5. Phased-Array Optics
Yet another proposed application would be phased-array optics (PAO). PAO
would used the principle of phased-array millimeter technology but at optical
wavelengths. This would permit the duplication of any sort of optical effect but virtually.
CONCLUSION:
While Nanotechnology is based in the research labs today, the advances made to
date have illustrated the significant value this technology will bring. The enhanced
characteristics of materials will allow us to create new and innovative devices to protect
all of us from terrorism, both directly through safer construction designs and indirectly
through intelligence and surveillance. With each passing day, the promise of
Nanotechnology becomes increasingly apparent. There is a long way to go before the
Nonmaterial production techniques can provide adequate supply of high quality materials
at affordable prices. This is one technology that requires close monitoring to properly
time the significant opportunities that will be created in it wake.
REFERENCES
• There's plenty of room at the bottom, by Richard P. Feynman, is a classic 1959
article
• Molecular engineering: an approach to the development of general capabilities for
molecular manipulation, by K. Eric Drexler
• Drexler and others have extended the ideas of molecular nanotechnology with two
more books, Unbounding the Future: the Nanotechnology Revolution [10] and
Nanosystems: Molecular Machinery, Manufacturing, and Computation [11].
• Other notable works in the same vein are Nanomedicine Vol. I and Vol. IIA by
Robert Freitas and Kinematic Self-Replicating Machines [12] by Robert Freitas
and Ralph Merkle.
• Nanotechnology: Molecular Speculations on Global Abundance Edited by BC
Crandall offers interesting ideas for MNT applications.

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Emerging trends of nanotechnology in biomedical engineering

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