ABSTRACT
The impact of nanotechnology in several elds such as electronics, energy generation, and storing or even common dairy consumer products has been of consideration, especially if we consider that it has been around for a short time. However, one of the areas where it has a great potential is in medicine. The term “nanomedicine” (the application of nanotechnology in medicine) was coined recently, and it is a very hot research topic where several groups and companies are heavily investing time, money, and efforts in order to share a piece of the big business it may represent. It has been calculated that by the year 2020, around 16% of medical materials or devices will contain some type of product derived from nanotechnology. Nanomedicine promises novel therapeutical and diagnosis systems, which potentially may change current medical practice. Many groups claim that the age of personalized medicines has arrived, and that nanomedicine will become an active and real eld of action in the immediate future. Nanosized therapeutic agents, drug delivery, and transportation materials as well as sensors for diagnostics and medical imagining are moving from sci- imaginaries to real-world applications. The potential biomedical applications of nanomaterials are a consequence of their size, their surface/size ratio, their unique physical and chemical properties, and their ability to interact with biological systems, in particular, biomolecules, cells, tissues, and organs.
