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Nanotechnology refers to the development of structure and system with the purpose to control their size and shape on a nanometer scale. A nanometer is considered 10-9th part of a meter. At this scale appears a good biological interaction between nanometric systems and natural structures, like proteins that are about 3-10 nm in size and blood cells that are approximately 6000 nm.
This type of technology has many applications in science, engineering, and especially medicine. Nanomedicine can be used for prevention, monitoring, diagnosis, control, and treatment, having an impact at the molecular level to achieve a medical benefit. The diagnosis is the first step in a medical process and it can be made in vitro, through nanoparticles or nano devices that recognize, capture, and concentrate natural biomolecules and also in vivo through synthetic assemblies that have the role of contrast agent for imaging. The imaging techniques that involve contrast agents are X-ray imaging, ultrasound imaging, and other diagnostic methods like magnetic resonance imaging, spectroscopy, or nuclear imaging.
The best diagnosis tool and image-guided therapy is the medical imaging as it helps in monitoring diseases and acting against them in vivo. A tissue disorder can be identified by a modification of its morphology or by using a contrast agent that assists in localizing a disease and obtaining a targeted treatment. This option helps in detecting the tumors’ localization and stage, inflammations, or drug accumulations that can be dangerous.
Cancer cells can be detected through imaging after they cause a defect to a tissue that indicates that a great number of cells have grown and metastasized. Even if the tumor is detected, it is necessary to make a biopsy to establish the tumors’ nature and also determine the facts that can help the development of a treatment and make the tumor responsive to it. It is very important to identify the cancerous cell and to make it visible; through nanotechnologies these things can be achieved. Metal oxide nanoparticles provide a signal with a high contrast on the image of magnetic resonance or computed tomography and can be loaded with antibiotic that recognize specific receptors on tumor cells.
Besides diagnostics and therapy, imaging can be useful also as an external stimulus for the activation of drug release from outside. The stimulus can be temperature, ultrasounds or laser light. Bio-sensors have biological elements named enzymes that can recognize or signal the existence of a certain molecule and its activity. The biological signal is converted into a quantifiable signal through a transductor, to obtain a medical result.
Nanotechnology involves various devices; such as pills that can be swallowed for imaging or instruments for endoscopy to provide an accurate in vivo diagnostic. Implantable devices are used as well for glucose measurement or infection markers. As these devices are miniaturized, they are less invasive and can be better accepted by the body.
The diagnosis of brain cancer is very hard to obtain as a biopsy of the brain tissue because it is an invasive and dangerous technique. The alternative is a nanotechnology based on an endoscopic nano patterned pen that can be used to collect cells and proteins by surface adhesion without affecting the brain tissue.
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