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Nanotechnolgy in pharmacy and medicine – contemporary status and future perspectives

Aleksander P. Mazurek 

National Medicines Institute (NIL), Chełmska 30/34, Warsaw 00-725, Poland
Warsaw University of Medicine, Warszawa, Poland

Abstract

Even though that atomistic theory emerged from the discussions between Democritus and his teacher Leukippos, and was sounded by Dalton,  it is a fact that Richard Feynman was the first scientist who suggested that devices and materials could someday be fabricated to atomic specifications, saying that principles of physics, as far as he can see, do not speak against the possibility of maneuvering things atom by atom. Later the term nanotechnology was coined. Today nanotechnology is reshaping technology.

Contemporary nanotechnology was derived from carbon compounds. So far a few allotropes of carbon were discovered with various chemical interest and extent of industrial use. Starting from diamond, through graphite, amorphous carbon, fullerenes, carbon nanotubes, aggregated diamond nanorods, glassy carbon, carbon nanofoam, lonsdaleite and chaoite, graphens those various structural forms were discovered or designed based on classical approach to possible existence of carbon compounds in linear or four, five, six and seven membered rings forms stable as isolated molecules.

Continuous progress in nantechnology creates promising field of new applications in pharmacy and in medicine. Surgical and diagnostic tools will be elegant and cheap. Research and diagnosis will become fairly more efficient. Small medical devices can be probably implanted permanently. Diagnosis and treatment may be semi-automated. Health will improve and life spans increase. Genetic therapy will be facilitated. Some organs will be replaceable. The  molecular manufacturing will be a significant breakthrough, comparable perhaps to the Industrial Revolution

Nanotechnology can provide solutions to many current problems in pharmacy and medicine by means of smaller, lighter, faster, and better-performing materials, components, and systems. Nanomaterials are being used for current and future medical developments. The major application fields and fast developing areas are: drug delivery systems, diagnostics aids and regenerative medicine materials. Within the drug delivery systems polymer systems and polymeric micelles (amphiphilic block copolymers), liposomes, dendrimers and transdermal delivery (e.g. nanoneedles etc.) are very promising tools. The diagnostics like device for use in identifying early-stage disease  “cellular endoscope’, gene ‘ignition switch’ for potential use in aiding cancer detection and treatment, polymer-caged nanobins, nanocrystals (quantum dots), magnetic nanoparticles (e.g. iron oxide for MRI), nano-scale determination of biomarkers acting as a predictor of deterioration in heart failure became reality. Future of respirocytes, vasculocytes, vasculoid and biologically useful membranes is now emerging. Nanotechnology tackles also borderline products zone.
 

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Related papers

Presentation: Invited oral at VIII Multidyscyplinarna Konferencja Nauki o Leku, by Aleksander P. Mazurek
See On-line Journal of VIII Multidyscyplinarna Konferencja Nauki o Leku

Submitted: 2012-04-18 13:04
Revised:   2012-04-18 13:04