Exploratory brief on nanomedicine or the application of nanotechnology in human health care : Nanotechnology exploratory brief

Nanomedicine: (1) the comprehensive monitoring, control, construction, repair, defense and improvement of all human biological systems, working from the molecular level, using engineered nanodevices and nanostructures; (2) the science and technology of diagnosing, treating and preventing disease and traumatic injury, of relieving pain, and of preserving and improving human health, using molecular [...] Due to the continuing advances in nanotechnology development, there is currently great interest in Alberta, in Canada, and in many other countries worldwide in the field of nanomedicine and in the implications nanotechnology will have for the future in the human healthcare sector. [...] Because of the vast scope of nanomedicine, and due to time constraints, this exploratory brief is not an exhaustive and systematic review of the literature on leading research opportunities offered by the applications of nanotechnology in medical science and human health care. [...] Nanotechnology Exploratory Brief – March 2012 3 Therapeutics The main areas of the application of nanotechnology in therapeutics (nanotherapeutics) are drug and gene therapies.1–4,10–19,21 In drug therapy, the size reduction or encapsulation of drug particles may improve the therapeutic potential of water insoluble and unstable drugs and may also facilitate the delivery of drugs/pharmaceuticals (s [...] PART I: LITERATURE SEARCH RESULTS The results of the literature search conducted for this exploratory brief revealed 30 documents published since 2000 by various groups from Europe, the United States, Canada, and Australia that described the broad scope of nanotechnology and the applications that the integration of nanotechnology and medicine research has generated.1–5,8–32 For the purpose of this