Evaluate the current applications of nanotechnology in medicine Essay - 3

Evaluate the current applications of nanotechnology in medicine. Discuss the potential future of nanomedicine based on current issues identified in the literature - Essay Example Some of the initial uses of nanotechnology have encompassed the use of antimicrobial coatings that are usually made of nanoparticulate silver on would dressings to stop infections and on items like catheters to stop the biofilms from forming (Krebs, 2010, p. 55). There has been work that has been directed at finding whether silver nanoparticle could be applied to wounds in a direct manner. In the medical field, nanotechnology has been applied in a variety of areas that include imaging and heating, soft tissue repair, orthopaedics, dentistry as well as surgery and drug delivery. The idea behind nanotech imaging is fairly direct in that it tags nanoparticles that show up in x-rays and MRIs with suitable antibodies and allow them to find the cells that are being looked for. In the research that involves imaging and heating of the cancer cells, the cells that are tagged absorb laser light more than the normal cells do making it easy for them to be killed by heat with a laser (Cleaveland, 2007). The biological perception of cancer is quickly evolving from disease models that are created from descriptions that are phenomenological to become network models that result from system biology that have the ability to capture the changing pathophysiology of the disease at the molecular level. The diffusion of this perception into a clinically relevant structure may have an enabling effect on the fight against cancer even though it remains a scientific and technological challenge. Nanotherapeutic approaches that are supposed to enhance efficiency while at the same time reducing the toxic side effects that are linked with the chemotherapies that treat cancer are being sought. Nanotechnology is being used in the treatment of cancer in two wide areas that include the development of nanovectors like nanoparticles that may contain medications or imaging agents which are