![\"\"](\"https:\/\/lms.nanoproject.eu\/lms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/heart-rate-gdcc670c60_1920-768x432.jpg\")
<\/p>\nWearable fitness technology means we can monitor our health by strapping gadgets to ourselves. There are even prototype electronic tattoos that can sense our vital signs. But by scaling down this technology, we could go further by implanting or injecting tiny sensors inside our bodies. This would capture much more detailed information with less hassle to the patient, enabling doctors to personalise their treatment (Prodromakis, 2018).<\/p>\n
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The possibilities are endless, ranging from monitoring inflammation and post-surgery recovery to more exotic applications whereby electronic devices actually interfere with our body’s signals for controlling organ function<\/strong>. Although these technologies might sound like a thing of the far future, multi-billion healthcare firms such as GlaxoSmithKline are already working on ways to develop so-called “electroceuticals” (Prodromakis, 2018).<\/p>\n Remember<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n The possibilities are endless, ranging from monitoring inflammation and post-surgery recovery to more exotic applications whereby electronic devices actually interfere with our body’s signals for controlling organ function<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n Nanotechnology researchers are \u00a0also working on a number of different therapeutics where a nanoparticle can encapsulate or otherwise help to deliver medication directly to cancer cells and minimize the risk of damage to healthy tissue. For instance, carbon nanotubes are being explored to achieve targeted drug delivery. This has the potential to change the way doctors treat cancer and dramatically reduce the toxic effects of chemotherapy<\/strong> (NNI, 2021).\u00a0 \u00a0Other emerging nanomaterials such as block copolymer micelles, polymers, quantum dots and dendrimers are also designed to help deliver or target drugs more efficiently (EUON, 2021).<\/p>\n For instance, quantum dots are semiconductor nanocrystals that are composed of an inorganic core surrounded by a metallic shell. They can be used as drug carriers or as fluorescent labels for other drug carriers such as liposomes. They can help to combine molecular imaging for diagnostics with therapy, for example, in the development of therapeutic strategies for cancer (EUON, 2021).<\/p>\n Meanwhile, dendrimers are molecules with a regular and highly branched tree-like structure. They measure between 1 and 10 nanometres in diameter and have a hydrophobic internal cavity that can be filled with hydrophobic molecules, for instance, anticancer drugs. Compared to other drug carriers such as liposomes, dendrimers are mechanically more stable but can carry smaller amounts of the drug (EUON, 2021).<\/p>\n As well, research in the use of nanotechnology for regenerative medicine spans several application areas, including bone and neural tissue engineering. For instance, novel materials can be engineered to mimic the crystal mineral structure of human bone or used as a restorative resin for dental applications. Researchers are looking for ways to grow complex tissues with the goal of one day growing human organs for transplant<\/strong>. Researchers are also studying ways to use graphene nanoribbons to help repair spinal cord injuries; preliminary research shows that neurons grow well on the conductive graphene surface (NNI, 2021).<\/p>\n Finally, nanomedicine researchers are looking at ways that nanotechnology can improve vaccines, including vaccine delivery without the use of needles. Researchers also are working to create a universal vaccine scaffold for the annual flu <\/strong>\u00a0<\/strong>vaccine that would cover more strains and require fewer resources to develop each year<\/strong> (NNI, 2021).<\/p>\n Thus, nanomedicine will enable better health monitoring by scaling down health tech meanwhile emerging nanomaterials will provide targeted drug delivery and individualized treatments which will help in the fight against several diseases including cancer. Finally, nanomedicine offers the promise of incredible innovations such as growing human organs for transplant and the creation of a universal vaccine scaffold for the annual flu vaccine.<\/p>\n Remember<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n Nanotechnology researchers are working on a number of different therapeutics where a nanoparticle can encapsulate or otherwise help to deliver medication directly to cancer cells and minimize the risk of damage to healthy tissue. This has the potential to change the way doctors treat cancer and dramatically reduce the toxic effects of chemotherapy.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_vibebp_attr":"","_vibebp_dimensions":"","_vibebp_responsive_height":"","_vibebp_accordion_ie_support":"","footnotes":""},"module-tag":[],"class_list":["post-1402","unit","type-unit","status-publish","format-standard","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lms.nanoproject.eu\/lms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/unit\/1402","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lms.nanoproject.eu\/lms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/unit"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lms.nanoproject.eu\/lms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/unit"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lms.nanoproject.eu\/lms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lms.nanoproject.eu\/lms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1402"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/lms.nanoproject.eu\/lms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/unit\/1402\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1429,"href":"https:\/\/lms.nanoproject.eu\/lms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/unit\/1402\/revisions\/1429"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lms.nanoproject.eu\/lms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1402"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"module-tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lms.nanoproject.eu\/lms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/module-tag?post=1402"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}\n\n
\n \n \n Scaling down health and fitness technology<\/strong><\/p>\n ![\"\"](\"https:\/\/lms.nanoproject.eu\/lms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/cancer-g2af63d68b_1920-768x508.jpg\")
Furthermore, nanotechnology is being studied for both the diagnosis and treatment of atherosclerosis, or the buildup of plaque in arteries. In one technique, researchers created a nanoparticle that mimics the body\u2019s \u201cgood\u201d cholesterol, known as HDL (high-density lipoprotein), which helps to shrink plaque. \u00a0The design and engineering of advanced solid-state nanopore materials could allow for the development of novel gene sequencing technologies that enable single-molecule detection at low cost and high speed with minimal sample preparation and instrumentation (NNI, 2021).<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/lms.nanoproject.eu\/lms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/surgery-g6c5fb6c32_1920-768x512.jpg\")
Another way nanotechnology can help us in the fight against cancer is with individualized treatments. Indeed, in the future, nanotechnology may allow us to receive individualised therapeutic treatments<\/strong>. Newly developed nanomedicines include multi-component systems called theranostics that can, for example, incorporate both therapeutic and diagnostic molecules. The resulting nano-system will allow diagnosis, drug delivery and monitoring of the effects of the medicine. The development of such systems can help to reach the goal of obtaining individualised therapies for multiple diseases. The reason behind the increasing amount of research done in the direction of personalised nanomedicine is that diseases such as cancer are extremely heterogeneous and the existing treatments are effective only for certain patients and at a certain stage of the disease. The administration of a theranostic agent to a patient can potentially allow monitoring of how well the patient responds to the nanomedicine, as the imaging molecules enable the real-time visualisation of the effect of the drug. As a result, drug dosage and treatment protocols can be optimised and individualised during follow-up (EUON, 2021).<\/p>\n\n\n
\n \n \n Nanomedicine against cancer<\/strong><\/p>\n