Nanotechnology for Nanomedicine and Delivery of Drugs

Abstract

Nanotechnology is an emerging technology seeking to exploit distinct technological advances controlling the structure of materials at a reduced dimensional scale approaching individual molecules and their aggregates or supramolecular structures. The manipulation and utilization of materials at nanoscale are expected to be critical drivers of economic growth and development in this century. In recent years, nanoscale sciences and engineering have provided new avenues for engineering materials down to molecular scale precision. The resultant materials have been demonstrated to have enhanced properties and applicability; and these materials are expected to be enabling technologies in the successful development and application of nanomedicine. Nanomedicine is defined as the monitoring, repair, construction, and control of human biological systems at the molecular level using engineered nanodevices and nanostructures. Electrospinning is a simple and cost-effective technique, capable of producing continuous fibers of various materials from polymers to ceramics. The electrospinning technique is used for the preparation of nanofibers and macroporous scaffolds intended for drug delivery and tissue engineering. These have special characteristics in terms of fabrication, porosity, variable diameters, topology and mechanical properties. This review summarizes the recent developments in utilizing nanofibers for drug delivery and tissue engineering applications.

Biomaterial Scaffold Fabrication Techniques for Potential Tissue Engineering Applications

“…The nano fibrous scaffolds are widely used in biomedical application for scaffolds preparation for tissue engineering (Ma et al, 2005;Yang et al, 2005), wound dressing (Kim et al, 2000), artificial blood vessels (Ma et al, 2005), protective clothing material (Lu and Ding , 2008), drug release membrane (Katti et al, 2004, Chew et al, 2005Venugopal et al, 2008), nanotube material, chemical catalytic apparatus, bio-transplant material, and hydrogen storage tank for fuel cell . The nanofibrous scaffolds are prepared for the biomedical application such as hydrophilicity, mechanical strength, biodegradability, biocompatibility, interaction of cells , which are controlled by chemical composition of the material (Madurantakam et al, 2009).…”

Controlling Drug Release from Titania Nanotube Arrays Using Polymer Nanocarriers and Biopolymer Coating

“…The majority of drugs like antibiotics, anti-cancer and anti-inflammatory drugs are insoluble in water or become unstable during their transport to the targeted sites, hence they require special delivery systems [3,4]. Porous materials have been demonstrated as excellent candidates for the design of therapeutic implants, not only because porous structures support tissue integration, but also because pores act as remarkable reservoirs for slow drug elution over extended time periods [5].…”

Multifunctional materials for bone cancer treatment

“…Even if natural polymers are more suitable, a lot of composite materials based on synthetic polymers, such as polycaprolactone, poly(d,llactide), polylactideco glycolide (PLGA), or polymethyl methacrylate, have been also regarded with increasing interest. [122][123][124] The enhanced sta bility of synthetic polymers in comparison with natural ones explains the higher number of composite materials based on synthetic polymer matrices. Further, the possibility of tailor ing the composition of synthetic polymers enables a broader range of properties to be obtained for the final composites, including mechanical properties, drugrelease rate, etc.…”