'Nano' means very small or minute. You need to investigate how this relates to technology and then how that technology can be used to treat diseases such as heart disease or cancer. What will the technology do and how effective will it be. Will it be more effective as a treatment than current methods, and how much will it cost compared to current methods.
Nanotechnology is the use of tiny materials that can be programmed to do certain goals; the thickness of an average piece of paper is 100,000 nanometres. Scientists work with technological wonders that have the width of 5 nanometres, which is small enough to enter the bloodstream. Many breakthroughs have been made in medical science with nanotechnology. For instance: scientists have invented a tiny object made out of nanostructures called a Dendrimer. This can be inserted into the body and used to provide highly accurate information about internal conditions; they can even send medication straight to where the cancer contagion is, which would minimize side-effects and highly raise effectiveness.
ReplyDeleteDuring heart surgery, doctors have to place the heart into a state of arrest, this leads to a high percentage of deaths. With nanotechnology types of surgery like this could be completed without stopping the heart.
Nanotechnology is the study and use of microscopic robotics. As well as microchips that can register changing influences in the body, nanotechological chips can send medication in the body in the right dicrection (e.g the leg or the heart), often reducing the risk of sideffects of the medication and increasing recovery rate.(quote) "Within a few decades, healthcare will be revolutionized by combining nanotechnology with biotechnology to produce ingestable systems that will be harmlessly flushed from the body if the patient is healthy but will notify a physician of the type and location of diseased cells and organs if there are problems. Nanometer-scale traps will be constructed that will be able to remove pollutants from the environment and deactivate chemical warfare agents. Computers with the capabilities of current workstations will be the size of a grain of sand and will be able to operate for decades with the equivalent of a single wristwatch battery. Robotic spacecraft that weigh only a few pounds will be sent out to explore the solar system, and perhaps even the nearest stars." http://www.nanotech-now.com/predictions.htm
ReplyDelete(Part A)
ReplyDeleteNanotechnology is also used in foods and medicines to make them eiser to swallow, and in sun screens, tiny bits of glass are inserted into the cream to reflect the harmfull uv rays.
There is also reasearch going into diamonds that have been used to weaken the effects of cancer
by carying the drugs needed to the the area of the cancer,incidently these diamonds can also be used to improve solar cells and knee prostheses.
(to be continued)
(Part A)
ReplyDeletecont from "May 19, 2009 6:34 PM"
"(quote)Applications of nanotechnology in medicine currently being developed involve employing nano-particles to deliver drugs, heat, light or other substances to specific cells in the human body."
Most types of nanotechnology are still under development there are some that have allready been made, like something known as nanocrystalline silver which is allready being used as a antimicrobial agent in the treatment of wounds.
There are many types of nano technology that are still being produced some of them are:
(Big quote)
Qdots that identify the location of cancer cells in the body.
Nanoparticles that deliver chemotherapy drugs directly to cancer cells to minimize damage to healthy cells.
Nanoshells that concentrate the heat from infrared light to destroy cancer cells with minimal damage to surrounding healthy cells. For a good visual explanation of nanoshells.
Nanotubes used in broken bones to provide a structure for new bone material to grow.
Nanoparticles that can attach to cells infected with various diseases and allow a doctor to identify, in a blood sample, the particular disease.
(to be continued)
Part A
ReplyDeleteNanotechnology is a revolutionary way of performing dangerous surgeries easier. It is the manufacturing of functional systems at the molecular scale.
In medicine, nanotechnology is a very promising tool. Scientists are trying to produce novel nanostructures that are like a type of drug for treating cancer, Parkinson’s and cardiovascular diseases. They are also working on engineering nanomaterials for creating artificial tissues, that would potentially replace diseases kidneys or livers, and possibly repair nerve damage, and to install nanodevices in the nervous system that would reinstate eyesight and hearing.
Nanotechnology seems like it will be more effective than the methods used today. For example, a future project of nanomedicine is to use this technology to eliminate bacterial infections in just minutes, instead of using the routine antibiotics for a period of weeks.
However, this brilliant technology will not only be beneficial but be used for violence purposes as well. The military are very interested in nanotechnology as this means they can structure molecules to create stronger, more efficient weapons that will cause more and more violence globally.
There is no exact figure on how much it will cost, but the costs of developing this type of complex technology would not be cheap. But the benefits and profit that you would get out of this technology would be limitless. For example, “a Cadillac that weighed just fifty kilograms or a full sized sofa that you could pick up with one hand.” (1) There would be fewer resources like metals used. Nanotechnology should be produced by 2010 to 2020 depending on whether the computer hardware revolution continues.
Part B
ReplyDeleteTom’s definition that ‘Nanotechnology is the study and use of microscopic robotics’ is very misleading. Nanotechnology is an applied science focussing on design, synthesis, characterisation and application of materials and devices at the nano-scale (definition provided by Australian Institute for Bioengineering & Nanotechnology, University of Queensland). ‘Nano’ is the metric prefix meaning 0.000,000,001 or one billionth.
Nanotechnology based novel therapeutic agents and devices which can deliver the medicines directly to cells and tissues in a specific manner will play a major role in fight against cancer. Non- invasive diagnosis and multifunctional devices to predict heart defects and deliver medicines will be very useful applications of nanotechnology for cardiovascular diseases. Dr Neena Mitter, Principal Biotechnologist (my mother) is currently working on use of nanoparticles to develop needle free vaccines.
Healthcare Using Nanotechnology To Fight Cancer, Cardiovascular Diseases, Lung Disease, Blood Diseases, Neurodegenerative Disorders, Diabetes, Inflammatory or Infectious Diseases and Orthopaedic Problems (2009), Viewed on 31 May 2009
http://www.azonano.com/Details.asp?ArticleID=1699
Australian Institute for Bioengineering & Nanotechnology ( 2009) Brisbane: Australia, Viewed on 31 May 2009, http://www.aibn.uq.edu.au/.