Abstract

NANOTECHNOLOGY IN MEDICINE AND HEALTHCARE: POSSIBILITIES, PROGRESS AND PROBLEMS

Ranajit Nath* and Sourav Datta

ABSTRACT

Nanotechnology is the field of science which deals with structures of extremely small size range (0.1 to 100 nm). Chronologically speaking nanomedicine which is a sub field of Nanotechnology is a relatively new field of Science and Technology but the wide of range of applications of nanotechnology has caught the attention of many researchers and thus the research works in this field continue to rise since past few years. In this article we give a brief explanation about various types of pharmaceutical Nano systems, classification of Nano materials based on their dimensions. We also discuss in details the applications of Nanotechnology in various fields like electronics, energy and environment, healthcare and medicine and also applications of Nano particles in drug delivery, protein and peptide delivery, and cancer. In addition to this, applications of various Nano systems in cancer, how advancement in Nanotechnology helps in the treatment of neuro- degenerative disorders such as Parkinson‟s disease and Alzheimer‟s disease and applications of Nanotechnology in tuberculosis treatment, the clinical application of nanotechnology in operative dentistry, in ophthalmology, in surgery, visualization, tissue engineering, antibiotic resistance, immune response are also discussed in this article.

Keywords: Drug delivery; Nano pharmaceutics; Nanotechnology, Nano medicine; Nanomaterials; Nano devices.