Home > News > Flick of Switch Controls Medicine: Nanoparticle Drug Delivery
September 6th, 2010
Flick of Switch Controls Medicine: Nanoparticle Drug Delivery
Abstract:
A recent review gives an up-to-the-minute round-up of how mesoporous silica nanoparticles are used to deliver drugs into cells.
Most doctors would love to be able to inject a drug into a patient and to know that it will act directly and only on the source of the problem. The drug should not show up elsewhere in the body, or even cause problems there. Medics and patients alike want a treatment that can be controlled as exactly as possible, so that it delivers the right amount of the right drug, in the right place, and at the right time. This kind of targeted delivery reduces the possibility of side-effects, which are often caused by the drug acting on an unplanned part of the body. To these ends, scientists are working on delivery systems that can be switched on and off by using internal or external signals, are targeted to head for a specific signal, and are biocompatible so that they will not cause problems in the body. These developments could revolutionize the way that we receive treatment in hospital.
Source:
materialsviews.com
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