Nanotechnology involves manipulating materials at the nanoscale of atoms and molecules. Some potential medical applications of nanotechnology include using nanorobots to identify and destroy pathogens in the body, mimicking natural biological processes like tissue repair at the molecular level, developing targeted drug delivery systems, and augmenting the immune system. Nanomedicine represents an emerging field that may revolutionize how diseases are diagnosed and treated in the future through applications like microscopic machines circulating in the bloodstream.
2. NaNo scieNce
The prefix “ nano” is a Greek word for “dwarf”
One nanometer (nm) is equal to one-billionth of a
meter
About a width of 6 carbon atoms or 10 water molecules
A human hair is approximately 80,000 nm wide
Red blood cells is 7000 nm wide
Atoms are smaller than 1 nanometer
Molecules and some proteins are between 1 nm and
above
3. NaNo scieNce
At IBM in the US, a technique called electron beam
lithography was used to create nanostructures and devices
as small as 40 to 70 nm in the early 1970s
4. NaNo scieNce
The concept of nanotechnology was first coined by Richard
Feynman in 1959 in his lecture “There’s plenty of room at
the bottom”
Manipulating material at a scale of individual atoms and
molecules
Imagining the whole Encyclopedia Britannica written on
head of a pin
6. NaNo techNology
“The manufacturing technology of the 21st
century"
The study and manufacture of devices of molecular
dimensions, in the range of nanometers or one-
billionth of a meter
Most of industrial manufacturing processes are
based on top-down technologies -- i.e., they take
larger objects and make them smaller yielding
products of fairly high precision and complexity
7. NaNo techNology
DNA serves as a data-storage system, transmitting
digital instructions to molecular machines e.g., the
ribosomes, that manufacture protein molecules.
8. NaNo mediciNe
Some medicines are made through biotechnological
processes, for example those using recombinant DNA
(human hepatitis vaccine)
Under these processes the DNA of living creatures
(usually bacteria) is altered
Nanotechnology represents a similar approach to the
manufacture of pharmaceuticals and other goods.
9. NaNo robots: mediciNe of the
future
What are they?
Nano robots are nano devices that will be used for the
purpose of maintaining and protecting the human body
against pathogens.
They will have a diameter of about 0.5 to 3 microns and
will be constructed out of parts with dimensions in the
range of 1 to 100 nanometers
10. NaNo robots
The powering of the nanorobots can be done by
metabolizing local glucose and oxygen for energy
Other sources of energy within the body can also be
used to supply the necessary energy for the devices
They will have simple onboard computers capable of
performing around 1000 or fewer computations per
second.
11. NaNorobots
A navigational network may be installed in the body,
which may provide high positional accuracy to all
passing nanorobots
This will enable the physician to keep track of the
various devices in the body
12. “A microscopic
machine roaming
through the
bloodstream,
injecting or taking
samples for
identification and
determining the
concentrations of
different
compounds"
15. TherapeuTic applicaTions of
nanoTechnology in Medicine
Nanotechnology also theoretically allows the mimicking
of natural biological processes e.g., repair of damaged
tissues
Using nanotech to build scaffoldings of artificial
molecules that bone cells often adhere to and grow
bones on
Broken bones would heal much faster.
Transport of oxygen within the body by creating an
artificial red blood cell
16. TherapeuTic applicaTions of
nanoTechnology in Medicine
To cure skin diseases, a cream containing nanorobots
may be used it may:
- Remove the right amount of dead skin
- Remove excess oils
- Add missing oils
- Apply the right amounts of natural
moisturising compounds
- Achieve the elusive goal of 'deep pore cleaning'
by actually reaching down into pores and
cleaning them out.
17. TherapeuTic applicaTions of
nanoTechnology in Medicine
A mouthwash full of smart nanomachines could identify
and destroy pathogenic bacteria while allowing the
harmless flora of the mouth to flourish in a healthy
ecosystem
