Nanotechnology is a science that has helped mankind seek solutions, which is otherwise impossible on a macro scale. Over the course of time, a myriad of new applications and formulations have been developed to tackle the problems encountered while preparing conventional medical formulations. In this article, i’ll talk about a few devices which have been built using the principles of nanotechnology.[1] Nanotechnology aims at targeting the specific delivery of therapeutic agents (medications), which have been known to reduce the toxicities in other organs. And this has been a major concern in cancer therapy. The therapeutic agents are conventionally directed towards the patient’s cells that have lost apoptotic control and that are growing limitlessly.[2] These medications are directed towards human cancerous cells, it becomes difficult to select the right target, and hence the therapeutic agents end up killing the normal body cells.

A Solution In Research

Nanotechnology directs the therapeutic agents to target a specific organ and also help save other organs from being killed. Many of the recent anti-cancer drugs failed the clinical trials due to safety concerns, but as genuine fix to the concern, they are now being formulated using nanotechnology. Wortmannin, a potent anti-cancer drug that acts as an inhibitor of Phosphoinositol 3-kinase[3] had failed the clinical trials due to problems related to toxicity, solubility and stability. It was later re-formulated as a nanoparticle where the researchers have claimed to solve all the aforementioned problems that earlier caused it’s failure.[4]

Similarly, researchers have successfully experimented to develop nanoparticles which comprise small chains of magnetic particles (Nanochains) and liposomes loaded with doxorubicin. This was tried in rodent models for triple-negative breast cancer.[5] By doing so, researchers reported that the toxicity was reduced remarkably and as the formulation was loaded with liposomes and made target specific the dose also reduced considerably.

The action of this formulation was such that when the liposomes reached the target organ or site of cancerous growth, magnetic nanoparticles were stimulated by electric field which made them vibrate due to which the liposome membrane would disrupt and the drug directly releasing on the cancerous cells. The targeting was based on αvβ3 integrin-targeted nanochain particle composed of four iron oxide nanospheres chemically linked in a linear assembly. The αvβ3 integrin is an adhesion receptor expressed by breast cancer cells and osteoclasts. [6]

References

1. Martis, E.A., R.R. Badve, and M.D. Degwekar, Nanotechnology based devices and applications in medicine: An overview. Chronicles of Young Scientists. 3(1): p. 68.
2. Lowe, S.W. and A.W. Lin, Apoptosis in cancer. Carcinogenesis, 2000. 21(3): p. 485-495.
3. Weng, L.P., J.L. Brown, and C. Eng, PTEN induces apoptosis and cell cycle arrest through phosphoinositol-3-kinase/Akt-dependent and‐independent pathways. Human molecular genetics, 2001. 10(3): p. 237-242.
4. Karve, S., et al., Revival of the abandoned therapeutic wortmannin by nanoparticle drug delivery. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. 109(21): p. 8230-8235.
5. Peiris, P.M., et al., Imaging Metastasis Using an Integrin-Targeting Chain-Shaped Nanoparticle. ACS nano. 6 (10), pp 8783–8795
6. Zhao, Y., et al., Tumor αvβ3 integrin is a therapeutic target for breast cancer bone metastases. Cancer research, 2007. 67(12): p. 5821-5830.

Nano technology will play the lead. Researchers at the North Carolina State University are working on ways to apply nano-coatings to cheap, flexible materials like textiles which have conventionally been applied and confined to inorganic materials like silicon, used for the construction of microelectronics.

It is intended to improve the cost efficiency and flexibility of the electronic devices, well suited for application in health monitoring mechanisms. This was justified by the statements of Dr. Jesse Jur, assistant professor of textile engineering, chemistry and science, and lead author of a paper describing the research.

We’re not expecting to make complex transistors with cotton, but there are simple electronic devices that could benefit by using the lightweight flexibility that some textile materials provide,” Jur explains.

Research like this has potential health and monitoring applications since we could potentially create a uniform with cloth sensors embedded in the actual material that could track heart rate, body temperature, movement and more in real time. To do this now, you would need to stick a bunch of wires throughout the fabric – which would make it bulky and uncomfortable.

The research has been recently published in the Advanced Functional Materials issue and is funded by the Department of energy and the Nonwovens Cooperative Research Center.

The clothes we wear can generate enough energy to charge our mobile phone batteries, when powered with technology.

Nanotechnology has a better answer to energy efficiency and conservation. Professor Li-Wei Lin at University of California, Berkley is working along with his team to enrich our clothing with more features, to be able to keep our portable gadgets like our mobile phone charged with energy generated by body movements. His idea is to intertwine electric generators into clothing fibre. Thus allowing  the energy generated from our body to be utilized for a purpose rather than being wasted away.

Earlier, Sciencedaily reported about the Stanford Engineer Yi Cui, is working on a similar concept with a different approach. He is experimenting to code nano material into common cloth with nano infused ink. Thus building a battery that will be embedded into clothing which will act as a energy storing device.