The Future of Medicine

How will we diagnose disease and illness in the future? What would be the power for doctors to know exactly what is wrong with patients and how they can be treated though simple and quick tests. Those are the questions that surround the new field of nanomedecine. “Nanomedicine is the medical application of nanotechnology. Nanomedicine ranges from the medical applications of nanomaterials and biological devices, to nanoelectronic biosensors, and even possible future applications of molecular nanotechnology such as biological machines” (Nanomedicine).  One such nanomedicine application is the Cornell dots or C-dots that utilize small silica-based nanoparticles infused with dye which light up with fluorescence as they react to cancerous or tumor tissue. These dots are just one example of how nanotechnology and nanomedicine can help change patient care forever.

Liposome utilizes nano core shell particles that 

self assemble to protect the drug for delivery (Nanomedicine).

Other nanotechnology such as Abraxane, approved by the FDA uses albumin bound paclitaxel nanoparticles to target breast, lung and pancreatic caner cells. This is useful and important technology due to the select targeting made possible by nanotechnology. In the past chemotherapy and radiation had to be applied body wide and healthy cells were just as likely to be damaged as the cancerous cells. This results in a great deal of pain, sickness and even death of patients undergoing the treatment. By comparison new nanotech solutions will be capable of directly targeting cancerous cells and administering the medication without harming healthy cells. These drug delivery systems work in part by protecting the drugs with nano scale core shell particles as pictured above.

 

BIND-014 which uses "targeted nanoparticle 

technology to enhance the trafficking of cytotoxic agents

  

Nanoparticles are so powerful as a potential solution to fight cancer and other illnesses because of their high surface are to volume ratio. This allows for many functional groups to be attached to a nanoparticle, which can seek out and bind to certain tumor cells. “Limitations to conventional cancer chemotherapy include drug resistance, lack of selectivity, and lack of solubility. Nanoparticles have the potential to overcome these problems” (Nanomedicine). This functionality would allow doctors to prescribe highly effective medication that have little to no side effects. Nanomedicine is the key to creating wonder drugs, even drugs that are specialized and custom tailored for the patient’s individual traits. One such example is BIND-014 which uses "targeted nanoparticle technology to enhance the trafficking of cytotoxic agents to cancer cells and increase efficacy, which, if confirmed in human trials, has the potential to improve outcomes for patients" (Fiercebiotech).

 

Nanoparticles such as Bucky Balls - C60 can be bio 

accumulative and cause numerous health problems.

The main problem and limitation is that several Nanoparticles are bio accumulative, meaning that they can build up in the body or get caught in the lungs of patients. Carbon nano particles also exhibit structures similar to asbestos. Effectively this means that certain nanotechnologies are capable causing harm and possibly lethal results. It is a case where the treatment is as dangerous as the disease. "A new study into the potential health hazards of the revolutionary nano-sized particles known as 'buckyballs' predicts that the molecules are easily absorbed into animal cells, providing a possible explanation for how the molecules could be toxic to humans and other organisms" (ScienceDaily). Thankfully there are many elements on the periodic table and we have not exhausted all options. But the result is that advancements and research has been slow. So while Nanomedicine has the power to forever change healthcare as it stands today the technology is only ready for highly limited use, even though its future potential remains strong.

References:

“BIND Biosciences Initiates Phase 1 Clinical Study.” Fiercebiotech. Fiercebiotech. Web. 26 Nov. 2015.

<http://www.fiercebiotech.com/press-releases/bind-biosciences-initiates-phase-1-clinical-study-bind-014-first-class-targ-0>.

"Nanomedicine." Wikipedia. Web. 25 Nov. 2015.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nanomedicine>. 

“Nanotechnology Risks: How Buckyballs Hurt Cells.” University of Calgary. ScienceDaily. 27 May 2008. Web. 25 Nov 2015. <http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/05/080527091910.htm>.

Prisco, Jocopo. “Will nanotechnology soon allow you to 'swallow the doctor'?.” CNN. CNN. 26 Jan 2015. Web. 30 NOV 2015.

<http://www.cnn.com/2015/01/29/tech/mci-nanobots-eth/>.

The Future of Waterproofing

One of the most interesting aspects of nanotechnology that it has the ability to change the wettability of surfaces. This can come in handy for car paint surfaces, windshields, rainproof clothing, umbrellas, and electronics. All of these products can be made better by the additional layer of super-hydrophobic nano particles.

LiquidOff contains no toxic chemicals or aerosols
that can be harmful to your health. 

Liquipel and Never Wet are two technology companies that I have previously mentioned that offer coatings that can turn ordinary surfaces into super-hydrophobic surfaces. The added benefit here is cell phones, which are water proof, or clothing that resists stains, dirt and mud. Relatively new to the market is a technology called LiquidOff which offers the same super-hydrophobic properties, but contains no toxic chemicals or aerosols that can be harmful to your health (Digital Trends). There are other uses that we are just beginning to scratch the surface of that offer added benefit to consumers and can improve the lives of everyone that uses the technology. An example of an application that isn’t being used that could utilize super-hydrophic nano particles would be to stripe freeways lines with a heavy application of the particles. Under rain storms the stripes would be easier to distinguish and would help keep people in their lanes. This would help promote safety, reduce accidents and save lives… All of this is possible through a simple application of super-hydrophobic particles. The main problem here is durability and longevity, both of which are issues that I believe can be solved as we learn more about how to work with these coatings.

Speedo's LZR swimsuit utilizes super-hydrophobic panels to reduce total drag. Trapped air also increases the swimmers overall buoyancy.

Other applications of super-hydrophobic surfaces are more straightforward and obvious. This is most apparent in the case of swimsuits which feature super-hydrophobic coatings to help reduce drag and to increase buoyancy of the users. These swimsuits such as Speedo’s LZR broke so many records that the Olympic committee had no other choice but to ban the use of the suits and to dictate that future suits be air-permeable. The Olympic committee also reduced the total surface are of the swimsuit on men meaning that the competition comes down to the athlete and not their tools. This has always been the vision of the Olympic games, but none the less the technology sparks interesting possibilities of how we can uses these surfaces and coatings in our every day lives. Few of us will ever compete in the Olympics, but almost everyone could benefit from a bathing suit, which is instantly, dry once out of the water.

HzO won an award in CES 2012 Innovations 

Design Engineering for this nano coating technology

Every smart phone on earth could also be instantly improved if it’s water repellent capabilities were increased. Companies like HzO and Liquipel "will be using vapour deposition process to overcome water damages in smartphones by providing the coatings in form of thin films (Techmezine)." This should be common sense at this point for manufacturers, but our technology is advancing so rapidly that there doesn’t seem to be enough consumer outcry and demand, even though everyone hates having to replace a phone after dropping it in water or accidentally sending it though the washing machine.

Every year these coatings will get better and we will find more applications. It is amazing how far we have come, but we still have a long way to go until everything is waterproof.

Resources:
Liquipel. “What is Liquipel? How does it work?." <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jedv15ov3sw>. YouTube. YouTube, 27 Oct. 2011. Web. 30 Nov. 2015.

Prindle, Drew. “This new hydrophobic coating is completely non-toxic and fabric-friendly.” Digital Trends. Digital Drends,  16 Jun 2014. Web. 30 Nov 2015.<http://www.digitaltrends.com/cool-tech/liquidoff-super-hydrophobic-spray-thats-completely-non-toxic-fabric-friendly/>.

“Smartphones to more reliable waterproof smartphones.” TechmeZine. TechmeZine, 28 Oct 2015. Web. 30 Nov 2015. <http://www.techmezine.com/electronics-news/smartphones-to-more-reliable-waterproof-smartphones/>.

Zarda, Brett. “Putting The Kibosh On Swimsuit Tech.” Popular Science. Popular Science, 3 Apr 2009, Web. 30 Nov 2015. <http://www.popsci.com/entertainment-amp-gaming/article/2009-04/putting-kibosh-swimsuit-tech>.

 

The Future of Robots?

Eric Drexler has theorized Atomically Precise Manufacturing where by manufacturing gets miniaturized down to a scale on the Nano level, but one thing that has always plagued Sci-Fi films is the concept of the nanobots, nanoids, nanites, nanomachines, or nanomites. This is a theory where by robots can be made on a nano scale. Those robots can combine to create larger more complex robots, or simply transform into anything that they need. This concept was widely used in the Terminator movies and was depicted as self-thinking metamorphic liquid metal.

Terminator 2 from 1991 set forth people believing that small nano bots 

could mimic any material and become any shape within seconds

The problem with this concept is that there just isn’t enough space to do this properly. Nano structures are just above the Angstrom scale and just larger than individual atoms. Essentially they can’t be made much smaller. Further more structures exit the Nano scale at approximately 1000 nm where they enter the micron scale. This is a very narrow window where we can design and create before things start to lose some of the quantum/Newtonian interactions that make nanotechnology so fascinating. Another way to look at is if the individual atoms are Legos, how many do you need in order to build your creation? And will the required number of atoms push the design out of the Nano scale all together?

 Artists renderings of Nano Bots always shows them as sleek forms, 

but in reality they would need to be constructed out of individual atoms.

Currently the requirements of circuit boards and integrated circuits are still too large to be properly implemented into small scale Nano bots. Additionally even if that was not the primary concern, making the propulsion, engines and pistons required for proper operation would most likely be impossible. The sizes and complexity involved just don’t suit the adaptation of small-scale robot as much as we have envisioned within our science fiction films.

The Nano bots that we do have are relatively simple. In this example shown above, this Nano Bot is delivering medication to cancer cells. Note the absence of moving parts or complexity. Most of the robot is constructed by self assembly and shape alone provides its primary function. "These devices were created using DNA strands that would self-assemble into a box with a controllable lid" (IFLScience).

Real life nano bots are amazingly simple. This Nanobot is modeled after the shape of eColi bacteria ( Prisco ).

Even if we could create robots and power them by integrated circuits 1-2 atoms in size, the programming required to control the robot would be significantly complex that the robot would almost be completely useless. Additionally the quantum/Newtonian interactions of Nano scale robots would mean that the construction and operation would differ from how we currently understand normal manufacturing processes as Nano scale robotics would have to take into account Physics and Chemistry before anything of uses can be created.

The final outlook is that Nano bots are not possible with our current understanding and capabilities. Even if we do make drastic leaps forward in Atomically Precise Manufacturing it is still very difficult to say that these robots would be possible simply because of the sizes involved. As it stands right now this is a concept better left to our imaginations and Science fiction.

Resources:

Fang, Janet. “http://www.iflscience.com/health-and-medicine/dna-nanobots-will-seek-and-destroy-cancer-cells.” IFLScience. IFLScience. 18 MAR 2015, Web. 20 Nov 2015.

< DNA Nanobots Set To Seek and Destroy Cancer Cells In Human Trial>.

"Nanobots." Wikipedia. Web. 20 Nov. 2015.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nanorobotics >. 

Prisco, Jocopo. “Will nanotechnology soon allow you to 'swallow the doctor'?.” CNN. CNN. 30 Jan 2015. Web. 20 Nov. 2015.

< http://www.cnn.com/2015/01/29/tech/mci-nanobots-eth/>.

The Future of Products

After traditional materials and manufacturing methods have been exhausted companies will begin to explore new methods of creating products. Most recently the focus has been on 3D printing and how it could user in a new manufacturing revolution. But even after 3D printing becomes widely adopted companies will once again start looking for what’s next. As products get more complex, faster and smaller the final goal becomes clear – Nanotechnology products or Atomically Precise Manufacturing.

It would probably shock people to know that of the products they use every day already contain some level of nanotechnology or nano-particles. Products such as fabric, medical equipment and sporting goods have been created which incorporate nanotechnology and each year the list grows. In some areas entire product lines have been created or radically transformed through nanotechnology. One such example is Quikclot, a product for treating everything from nosebleeds to gunshot wounds in the battlefield. Quickclot works by utilizing the component Zeolite, which adsorbs water, but leaves behind the platelets to promote rapid coagulation of blood (Nano Werk). A live saving product made possible by nanotechnology.

 

QuickClot uses Zeolite to cause rapid coagulation 

of blood by the removal of water molecules.

Other products are subtler in their application of nanotechnology, but the impacts can be just as profound. Take for example stocks created by Vladimir Rudenov, a Russian scientists that uses silver nanofibers in the socks creation. His goal is to curb the smell feet. “Scientifically speaking, smelly feet are a result of bacteria digesting organic matter in our sweat (Trend Updates).” The silver nanofibers woven into the sock fabric inhibit the bacteria from growing, resulting in less smell. Another product changed by the inclusion of nanotechnology.

 

Silver nanofiber socks are capable of inhibiting the growth 

of bacteria which is the leading cause of foot odor.

One of the earliest industries to adopt nanotechnology also has some of the widest ranging applications. The sporting goods industry is always looking for a competitive edge and its no wonder that they have been one of the earliest adopters of nanotechnology.  Nanotechnology has been used in everything from preventing air loss in tennis balls, strengthening tennis racquets/golf shafts, increasing abrasion resistance in kayaks and improving ski wax (Understanding Nano). All of these sporting good applications have one common goal – to increase performance of the product. And while that will regularly be the primary focus for sporting goods, that is not always the case for other industries. 

 

Wilson DC1 Tennis balls used nanotechnology to slow the air escaping. 

This resulted in tennis balls that stayed firm longer.

As long as products have been designed there has always been the struggle between increasing performance and adding features; usually with cost being the deciding factor. Adding features is also often looked down upon in the design world as “featuritis” or “feature-waring,” the inclusion of features that don’t benefit the design of the product, but were added because they simply could. Nanotechnology now offers entirely new opportunities to both of those challenges in ways that may not break the design budget and the features added also increase the total performance for the product.

Nanotechnology offers exciting new solutions that will require clever thinking and ingenuity, but once properly implemented we will all wonder how we ever lived before.

Resources:
“Nanotechnology Products.” National Nanotechnology Infrastructure Network. National Nanotechnology Infrastructure Network, 9 Nov 2015. <http://www.nnin.org/news-events/spotlights/nanotechnology-products>.

“Blood Clotting Nanotechnology Picked by U.S. Military as First-Line Hemostatic.” Nano Werk. Nano Werk, 14 May 2008, 9 Nov 2015. <http://www.nanowerk.com/news/newsid=5723.php>.

“Nano-Enhanced Socks To Treat Smelly Feet.” Trend Updates. Trend Updates, 9 Nov 2015. <http://trendsupdates.com/nano-enhanced-socks-to-treat-smelly-feet/>.

“Sporting Goods with Nanotechnology.” Understanding Nano. Understanding Nano, 9 Nov 2015. <http://www.understandingnano.com/sporting_goods.html>.

Boyd, Andrew “Nanotechnology.” The Engines of Our Ingenuity. The Engines of Our Ingenuity, Nano, 3 Feb 2009, 9 Nov 2015. <http://www.uh.edu/engines/epi2461.htm>.