Exploring Nanotechnology Applications in Medicine

Nanomaterials are mainly used in medicine for diagnostic and therapeutic applications. Besides intravenous administration, oral-, intranasal-, and ultrasound-assisted deliveries are currently being tested as alternative methods. Nanoparticles (NPs) can also interact with high intensity focused ultrasound and therefore become useful for imaging and therapy. Tissue engineering is another field in which nanotechnologies appear to have a promising role. Nanotechnologies can be used to form scaffolds and to deliver drugs and growth factors in the lesion site in order to enhance bone formation. Stem cells are unspecialized cells that have the potential for self-renewal and differentiation into more specialized cell types. NPs can be combined with scaffolds to facilitate application in the bone. Osteoblasts and osteoclasts have a complex interaction and their respective activity is the key to bone homeostasis. The chapter proposes a theoretical model to predict the bending strength of a nanobeam based on fracture mechanics.