Nanotechnology includes diverse fields of engineering and science and may be able to create many new materials and devices with a vast range of applications (in nanomedicine, nanoelectronics, biomaterials, energy production, consumer products, etc.). The effects of artificial nanomaterials on the human body have long been known, as many practical uses of nanoparticles go back a long time, but medical applications are of special relevance. As a medical application of nanotechnology, nanomedicine is focused on harnessing nanotechnology to effectively diagnose, treat, and prevent various diseases. It aims to efficiently deliver medications that have been reduced/minimized to the necessary dosages, and in the places where they are needed, it results in improved outcomes with less medication and less or no adverse reactions or side effects. In 1995, approval of the very first nano-therapeutic product (Doxil) is generally viewed as the dawn of nanomedicine for human use. In 2021, the COVID-19 pandemic created an urgent need for an effective vaccine. Nanotechnology played an important role in enabling the development of messenger-RNA vaccines that have since been administered worldwide and may provide a novel platform for vaccine designs. Biological processes, including the ones necessary for life and those that lead to cancer, occur at the nanoscale. Accordingly, nanobiotechnology provides us with the opportunity to study and manipulate macromolecules in real time during the earliest stages of cancer progression; the possibility of rapidly and sensitively detecting cancer-related molecules, enabling us to detect molecular changes even when they occur only in a small percentage of cells; and the potential to generate entirely novel and highly effective therapeutic agents. It also offers important benefits for diagnosis by providing new molecular contrast agents and materials to enable an earlier and more accurate initial diagnosis, as well as continual monitoring of cancer patients during their treatment. It offers the means to target chemotherapies directly and selectively to cancerous cells and neoplasms, guide in surgical resection of tumors, and enhance the therapeutic efficacy of radiation-based and other treatment modalities, all of which add up to a decreased risk to the patient and an increased probability of survival. Another promising application of nanomedicine principles is in clinical neuroscience, particularly in the treatment of neurological disorders (epilepsy, Parkinson's disease, Alzheimer's disease, etc.). While nanomedicine has not yet fully delivered on its promises, it remains an important new vista in medicine in the several instances covered in this book.
Author Biography:
DR. ALAIN L. FYMAT is a medical-physical scientist and an educator. He is the current President/ CEO and Institute Professor at the International Institute of Medicine & Science with a previous appointment as Executive Vice President/Chief Operating Officer and Professor at the Weil Institute of Critical Care Medicine, California, U.S.A. He was formerly Professor of Radiology, Radiological Sciences, Radiation Oncology, Critical Care Medicine, and Physics at several U.S. and European Universities. Earlier, he was Deputy Director (Western Region) of the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (Office of Research Oversight). At the Loma Linda Veterans Affairs Medical Center, he was Scientific Director of Radiology, Director of the Magnetic Resonance Imaging Center and, for a time, Acting Chair of Radiology. Previously, he was Director of the Division of Biomedical and Biobehavioral Research at the University of California at Los Angeles/Drew University of Medicine and Science. He was also Scientific Advisor to the U.S. National Academy of Sciences, National Research Council, for its postdoctoral programs tenable at the California Institute of Technology and Member of the Advisory Group for Research & Development, North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO). He is Health Advisor to the American Heart & Stroke Association, Coachella Valley Division, California. He is a frequent keynote speaker and organizing committee member at several international scientific/medical conferences. He has lectured extensively in the U.S.A, Canada, Europe, Asia, and Africa. He has published in excess of 525 scholarly scientific publications and books. He is also Editor-in-Chief, Honorable Editor or Editor of numerous medical/scientific journals to which he regularly contributes. He is a member of the New York Academy of Sciences and the European Union Academy of Sciences, a board member of several institutions, and a reviewer for the prestigious UNESCO Newton Prize, United Kingdom National Commission for UNESCO.
