Recent progress in the therapeutic applications of nanotechnology

The field of pharmaceutical and medical nanotechnology has grown rapidly in recent decades and offers much promise for therapeutic advances. This review is intended to serve as a quick summary of the major areas in the therapeutic application of nanotechnology.

Nanotechnology for therapeutic application falls into two broad categories of particulate systems and nanoengineered devices. Recent studies appear to focus on the development of multifunctional particles for drug delivery and imaging and the development of nanotechnology-based biosensors for diagnostic applications. Cancer treatment and diagnosis appears to be the principal focus of many of these applications, but nanotechnology is also finding application in tissue engineering and surface engineering of medical implants.

Particulate drug delivery systems in general appear to be poised for increased use in the clinic, whereas nanoengineered implants and diagnostic sensors might well be the next major wave in the medical use of nanotechnology.