Nanochannel Systems for Personalized Therapy and Laboratory Diagnostics

Abstract

Significant recent progress has been made in the development of microfabricated nanofluidic devices for use in the biomedical sciences. Novel nanotechnological approaches have been explored in view of a more individualized medical approach. Much of the development has been fuelled by the advantages derived from utilizing nanoscale phenomena to manipulate fluid samples or mediate drug delivery. As such, we present a comprehensive review of nanochannel technologies, highlighting their potential for diagnostic and therapeutic applications.

Impedance characterization, degradation, and in vitro biocompatibility for platinum electrodes on BioMEMS

“…As a proof-of-concept, a pre-microfabricated implantable silicon membrane was modified through e-beam deposition of a Pt electrode at a 45° and demonstrated successful temporal modulation of DF-1 release through an applied electrical potential. These studies provide preliminary evidence on the suitability of e-beam and sputtered Pt thin films as biocompatible and biorobust electrodes that can be conveniently integrated onto other pre-fabricated devices for biomedical applications (Grattoni et al 2010; Fine et al 2013). In the case of controlled drug delivery, these agile, flexible, and inexpensive deposition methods represent promising approaches for the successful development of actively tunable implantable delivery devices.…”

Hierarchical modeling of diffusive transport through nanochannels by coupling molecular dynamics with finite element method

“…Recent technological advances have enabled reproducible fabrication of nanofluidic devices [1][2][3] and nanoporous materials [4][5][6][7][8]. Emerging new material properties and transport phenomena make nanofluidic devices appealing for novel biomedical and industrial applications, including drug delivery [9,10], catalysis [11,12] and molecular filtering [13], where precise mass exchange and timing are essential.…”

The Emerging Role of Nanotechnology in Cell and Organ Transplantation

“…While targeted delivery relates to the transportation of drugs to a desired location, controlled delivery relates to the release of the drug at a designated time, in an adequate concentration. Drug targeting and controlled administration are widely investigated, employing the novel tools offered by nanotechnology, resulting in a series of implantable and injectable nano-delivery systems [9, 43]. Substantial resources focus on the development of nanotechnologies to capitalize on their potential benefits in personalized treatments for a large number of clinical applications, including transplantation [44].…”

“…Nanochannel membranes offer significant advantages as they achieve constant, sustained release and can be easily tuned in channel size (2 – 200nm) and density to achieve a clinically relevant, constant delivery of a broad spectrum of chemotherapeutics [75, 76]. The nanochannel technology has shown constant in vivo delivery of testosterone, leuprolide, interferon, lysozyme, genotropin and octreotide in dog, rat and mouse models for periods ranging from 1 to 6 months [43, 48]. Additionally, this technology demonstrated long-term (more than 6 months), sustained, and constant delivery of therapeutics in an in vitro model (Fig.…”