Making the Smallest Medical Devices

Abstract

This article presents an overview of various alternative methods of nanoscale fabrication to bring revolution in the medical device development. Carbon nanotubes are considered to have great potential in biology and medicine, thanks to their desirable properties. These nanotubes are a macromolecular form of carbon; although their diameters are suitably nanoscale, ranging from 0.4 nm to 100 nm, they can be as much as several thousand nanometers long. Nanoscale fabrication can create devices that can work on individual cells and provide treatments that would be impossible if we were trying to issue them in bulk throughout the body. Nanoparticles can be fabricated using both top-down and bottom-up fabrication methods. In the top-down method, nanoparticles are carved from the bulk materials using techniques such as electron-beam lithography, reactive ion etching, and wet etching. Hybrid methods promise to integrate bottom-up and top-down nanofabrication in new and innovative ways by leveraging the strengths and unique features of both approaches.