For something that involves particles so tiny that you could fit thousands of them in a single strand of your hair, nanotechnology is causing some seriously big waves. From food to fashion, the technology is poised to change the way we produce and use literally everything.

And the small big revolution that it is, nanotechnology is not going to leave medicine unchanged. Rightly so since it has the potential to make the field more efficient and smarter.

Here, we give an overview of the many ways in which nanotechnology will change medicine.

Drug delivery

Drug delivery is one major application that researchers envision for nanotechnology. The nanoparticles can be efficiently used to deliver drugs as well as heat and light to particular types of cells.

The basic idea involves engineering the nanoparticles in such a way that they will be attracted to damaged cells, enabling their repair or elimination.

Nanoparticles which can deliver chemotherapy drugs directly to cancer cells are an example of this. Targeted delivery of chemotherapy drugs is something that is under development-with companies like Cytlmmune and BIND Biosciences involved in such research.

There is also the aspect of releasing drugs under sheer force, like what happens when passing through a blocked artery, something for which nanoparticles will be ideal. Research along these lines are underway at the Wyss Institute in Massachusetts, America.

Silicon nanoparticles which will degrade within a tumor and release the necessary drugs, gelatin nanoparticles to bring drugs to damaged brain tissues, nanoparticles that can deliver vaccine are more miracles in the making.

Therapy techniques

Nanotechnology has quite a few interesting and useful applications in terms of therapy techniques.

For instance ‘nanosponges’ which can soak up toxins from the bloodstream have already been developed.

Then, there’s the idea of using a lens coated with carbon nanotubes that can transform a laser light into sound waves- these waves, apparently, could be use for elimination tumours without causing damage to healthy tissues.

Nanoparticles that can absorb free radicals could help reduce the damage brought about by the free radicals that are released after a brain injury.

Diagnostic techniques

The holy grail of medicine- early diagnosis appears much closer than ever before thanks to nanotechnology.

Technologies such as sensors that use nanotubes which detect the level of nitric oxide in the bloodstream once you inject it under the skin are under development by researchers at MIT.

Another type of sensor incorporating nanoparticles- this one which can detect cancer cells even at so low a level as 3 to 5 cancer cells in one millimeter blood sample is being developed by researchers at the University of Michigan.

Nanoparticles’ worth in early diagnosis of infectious disease is a well-demonstrated fact whereas development of a test for early detection of kidney damage is underway.

Anti-microbial techniques

As far as anti-microbial applications of nanoparticles go, the researchers at the University of Houston are at the forefront-developing a method that will kill bacteria with gold nanoparticles and infrared light- something that could come in handy for cleaning surgical instruments, etc.

Nanoparticles for treating antibiotic resistant infections and chronic bacterial infections are also being developed. A nanoparticle cream which fights staph infections is also currently available in some markets.

Studies indicate the possibility of eliminating bacterial infections within mere minutes as opposed to the antibiotic treatment that could stretch over weeks.

Cell repair

Owing to their programmable nature, nanorobots could be deployed to repair specific diseased cells. These bots function in a way more or less similar to antibodies.

Nanogenerators

A whole new class of implantable medical devices is a distinct possibility with nanotechnology. These devices could function using the mechanical energy released from body movements which can be converted into electricity.

While the human body is good at converting chemical energy into mechanical energy, the latter can be turned to power the devices within the body by the nanogenerators.

Nanodentistry

Nanodentistry is another emerging field thanks to nanotechnology. It’s a confluent field of medicine that incorporates nanomaterials, biotechnology and dental nanorobotics. Treatment opportunities in dentistry that could come from this are many- local anaesthesia, permanent cure of hypersensitivity and dentition renaturalization, among others.

It’s presumed that the dental nanorobots, once they are invented will have a high level of navigational precision and will also be able to sense and manipulate their surroundings. The dentist may transmit orders to the nanorobots by acoustic signals or other methods.

Surgical nanobots

As the name suggests, surgical nanorobots are used in surgeries, probably guided by a human surgeon. Essentially, the bots will be on-site surgeons that work inside the human body. Functions such as searching for pathology as well as diagnosing and correcting lesions could be performed by these bots.

Although surgical nanorobots in refined forms may still take some years to materialise, a rudimentary form of cellular nanosurgery is already being explored.

Though a large spectrum of things is being discussed on how nanotechnology is changing the medical landscape of medicine, one thing is for sure-this is just the beginning of a sea of changes. Here’s hoping for a better, a more nano-rich tomorrow.