Nanoparticles have already been shown to have uses in the medical field resulting in safer operations and imagery. The use of nanoparticles has allowed for the development of new methods of delivery therapy such as blocking vasculature to diseased tissues and tumors, or by carrying payloads of drugs. Magnetic nanoparticles have also been used in place of minimal risk radioactive technetium for an even safer way of tracking the spread of cancer along lymph nodes. These very same nanoparticles can also be used to kill the cancer on a local scale with the changing of magnetic fields resulting in hyperthermia, an abnormal amount of heat. The development of nanoparticles to aid in the delivery of a drug to the brain via inhalation holds considerable promise for the treatment of neurological disorders such as Parkinson disease, Alzheimer disease, and multiple sclerosis.
The use of nanoparticles has shown many promising results and uses but the fact remains that nanoparticles are still fairly new. An example of this is how according to britannica.com “little is known about the fate of nanoparticles that are introduced into the body or whether they have undesirable effects on the body”. This means that there is still a large amount of research that should and will be done before applying this technology on a large scale in the medical field. There also are manufacturing problems to be overcome, such as the ability to produce nanoparticles under sterile conditions, which is required for medical applications. Nanoparticles are usually made in one of three ways: first the pulverization of materials usually done in mining or natural weathering. Second is pyrolysis which is defined as the degradation of organic compounds in the absence of oxygen at temperatures ranging from 500° to 800°C. Lastly is sol-gel synthesis, the generation of inorganic materials from a colloidal suspension.
Another issue with nanoparticles is that they are only visible under very specific conditions. This means that specialized techniques are required to see them which are not currently field-deployable. This does not mean that they are completely undetectable as using small-angle neutron scattering or SANS for short allows people to simultaneously sample and average very large numbers of nanoparticles and often does not require any particular sample preparation. SANS has many possible applications such as when scientists used it to measure the amount of nanoparticles in sewage to follow their behavior over time. An important thing to note is that nanoparticles occur naturally in the environment through aerosol, salt, smoke trees and many other parts of the environment.
Many of these nanoparticles would be classified as “dangerous to human health” according to britannica.com. Studies have also done tests on animals and shown that large amounts of nanoparticles can cause damage to cells and lungs. Even Still the effect of nanoparticles with typical exposure remains unknown. Nanoparticles have been shown to be a safer sun screen but can cause harmful effects when taken in large quantities. They have the potential to help with many neurological diseases and help fight against cancer and have shown promising results. The technology surrounding nanoparticles needs some work and some studies to confirm their effects but could be the future of medicine. It’s important to know the risk of new medicine and be informed about the possible new cures as they can be cheaper or more effective than current methods. While nanoparticles won’t be used for a while, it’s worth keeping an eye on because of its many applications in medicine.
