Some applications of nanotechnology within the healthcare industry
Nanotechnology is being used in healthcare and medicine in various ways. Advances in scanning probes as well as analytical optical scanning methods have enabled professionals in the medical field to view biological microscopic structures and chemical processes at resolutions not achieved in any other way.
For example, professionals can now measure and find the extremely small forces associated with receptor-ligand binding that happen on cell surfaces using an atomic force scope. The exchange between a cell and its environment of ions or the way nerves propagate electrical signals can now be determined using microscopic electrical probes. The chemical processes happening inside and on the surface of cells can now be followed using selective fluorescent probes that emit light combined with optical instruments with high resolution.
DNA microchip arrays have greatly improved the mapping of genetic information. By adapting techniques used in lithography of integrated circuits, it is now possible to map genetic information contained in RNA and DNA techniques rapidly.
For example, the Gene Gun is a system used to transfect animal and plant cells by delivering genetic materials into them using nanoparticles. It works by coating gold particles of submicron size with DNA material. The particles are then accelerated by the expansion of helium gas supersonically. This forces the particles out of the gun at velocities high enough to penetrate a cell’s membrane as well as that of it nucleus, effectively delivering the genetic material into the cell’s nucleus.
Nanoparticles are increasingly being used in medicine and healthcare. One way they are being used is to deliver genes into cells. This can help in combating genetic disorders in way not practical using conventional methods. Nanoparticles are being considered too for delivering drugs to the target areas. This reduces the dosage required and provides a novel way to introduce compounds that are difficult to internalize in cells and/or that are insoluble.
The application of nanotechnology in diagnostics and biosensors
Of all the applications of nanotechnology in healthcare, their use in diagnostics and biosensing are the most promising and advanced. This has been enabled by advances made in the fields of microfluidics, miniaturization and the ability to integrate reagents and/or assay steps on miniature devices. In fact, the advances have led to the point where lab on a chip has been achieved. This should significantly change the way diagnosis and biosensing is carried out.
Another reason nanotechnology is so successfully applied in the field is the ease of manipulating nanoparticles and materials. By changing the shape, size, structure, composition and other properties of nanoparticles and materials, one is able to develop materials with the desired properties like emission, absorption and light scattering.
Nanomaterials are being used in the fields of imaging, therapeutics and in-vitro diagnostics. The use of nanomaterials has enabled the detection of multiple disease biological markers simultaneously. Another area they have performed well is the in early detection of diseases at an early stage. Cost effective assays employing nanotechnology have been developed that require minute sample volumes and that are fast and very sensitive.
Using nanomaterials, it is possible to detect of very trace of target analytes. Nanomaterials are also the most promising technology for the development of protein arrays with high throughput. Nanoperaticles that are bioconjugated are used in biomolecular recognition and assays to amplify signals.
Point of care diagnostics promises to revolutionize healthcare. Healthcare providers and patients will be able to perform assays in even the remotest of locations. This will especially change healthcare in developing countries and remote areas.
Genetic sequencing is being changed by the use of nanomaterials. Employing gold nanomaterials, it is possible to detect a sample’s genetic sequence. The use of nanowires, nanogaps, nanopillars and other nanostructure based devices will increase the sensitivy of sensors, enabling the detection of even single molecules. The application of such devices has been shown to be able to identity and characterize single-stranded genomic RNA and DNA without the need for amplification.
Medical imaging has improved as a result of nanotechnology. Quantum dots, nanoparticles and other nanomaterials are a good fit for this kind of application since their functionality and performance can be easily enhanced. Conjugating them to biological marker specific vectors enables them to be targeted to specific body sites that may be diseased.
Better therapy is enabled using such methods since nanotechnology based imaging agents can be used to provide information on function and physiology in addition to anatomical data. This enables the detection of diseases at an early stage and provides more accurate information.