February 20, 2012

According to experts, the next five of medicine will be characterized by a strong breakthrough in the field Nanotechnology . Already today the market is rather big, and within five years it has increased its turnover by 2 times. Analysts agency Global Industry Analysts predict that the market for products related to nanomedicine in 2016 will leave 131 billion. Dollars, while last year it amounted to little more than $ 70 billion.

Advanced technologies allow scientists to work with materials on the scale, which until recently seemed quite incredible - even individual molecules and atoms. Such materials may also be organic, and it is naturally leads to the development of nano-medicine as a new field. My first thought about the use of microscopic robots appeared in 1959. Then, in his lecture, "There's a lot of room at the bottom" Richard Feynman spoke of podobnyhmyslyah. However, only now the level of technology allows to realize in practice the ideas of the scientist.

The use of thin technologies allows to change the quality   contrast agent And this in a variety of time increases the accuracy of the standard methods - MRI, ultrasound, radiography and sonography . The contrast agent comprises nanoparticles linked to an imageable component and antibodies   and other molecules that are able to find the target. In case of contact bloodstream   contrast agent, its search components interact with specific target structures, which are located on the cell surface, and imaging components penetrate into diseased tissue. Further information is read visualized.

Such a system can carry out both healing And Diagnostic   function. For example, one of the best diagnostic tools tumors   is to use Fluorescent quantum dots. He's going to diseased tissues, which facilitates the visualization even in the earliest stages of the disease. Gold nanoparticles are also used successfully in the laboratory for combating tumors. The essence of this method lies in the fact that hours while heating nanoparticles with infrared light, they "load with presents" diseased cells around them. Recently, scientists combined the two data nanoparticles thereby provide a therapeutic effect in association with vizualizaiey.

Another direction of the development of medical nanotechnology - a targeted delivery preparations . The development of this area is due to the fact that a huge problem is the low efficiency of Pharmacology medication . During the time until the drug circulates through the body with the blood it can cause great harm. The study showed drugs in tablet form or other conventional forms, only one molecule of 100,000 succeeds. Experts hope to resolve this issue as follows. The molecule is placed in a special capsule that protects it from destruction in the path. In addition, such enclosure shall be designed so as to facilitate the achievement of goals ensured the attraction of the diseased tissue of the drug. A good example is a molecule folic acid She is actively trapped patients tumor cells. The antibodies can serve as universal molecules that recognize target cells.

Using this method makes it possible to reduce the dose of medication times, and it certainly will have an impact on reducing side effects . They are often very dangerous, for example, when oncological diseases . The ability to manage the drug from the container also exists. For example, the use as containers with polymeric shell nanoparticles or fine metal core so that the drug can be released by heating with a laser beam or an alternating magnetic field.

In addition, the unique properties of nanomaterials can be used to create artificial tissues and organs . For example, currently has developed a method of creating a cartilage having biochemical and mechanical properties similar to the natural. There are also developments in the field of bone regeneration, namely, the properties of the enamel.