Next-generation nanotech meds: Diagnostic and therapeutic applications of non-organic nanoparticles are making their way into clinical use.

Abstract

Nanoparticles have been used for more than a decade in medicine, one of the more prominent applications being silver particles in wound dressing to prevent infection and local inflammation. Most nanoparticles though are used for drug delivery, a substantial and fast growing market, worth about US$41 billion in 2014 and projected to reach US$118 billion by 2023 (http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/nanotechnology-drug-delivery.html). In most cases, these particles are made of organic molecules to encapsulate therapeutic compounds or to home in on specific cell types such cancer cells. Recently, though, research has taken a growing interest in inorganic nanoparticles and early clinical trials are underway or about to begin soon. The potential applications of inorganic nanoparticles include diagnosis, therapy, or a combination of both for a wide range of degenerative, oncological, infectious and auto‐immune or inflammatory diseases. > … Nanoparticles often have properties that are different from the same elements or compounds at larger scale… Nanoparticles are usually defined as anything in size between 1 and 100 nm, which is just the right size for targeted delivery and diagnostics at the level of biomolecules. Moreover, nanoparticles often have properties that are different from the same elements or compounds at larger scale, while their large surface to volume ratio increases chemical reactivity and thus potential as catalysts. By the same token, this increases potential for deleterious side effects, which has so far held back the use of nanomaterials in the clinic. The most widely researched nanoparticles, particularly for applications in biology and medicine, are carbon nanotubes, gold nanoparticles, and cadmium selenide quantum dots. To a large extent, the properties that make these particles attractive for industrial applications are equally relevant in biology. Gold nanoparticles, for example, are highly flexible in terms of size, shape, surface chemistry, and aggregation state. Quantum dots can deliver high doses of energy …