ABSTRACT
The National Nanotechnology Initiative denes nanotechnology as the science of materials and phenomena in the range of 1-100 nm (10−9 m). Nanomedicine is the application of nanotechnology to medicine and has the potential to impact numerous aspects of healthcare.1 Much of nanotechnology in medicine is based on the use of nanoscale particles. Because of their small size, these particles can be transferred through blood vessels enabling them to easily come in contact with tissues and cellular molecules. These particles can be conjugated with functional molecules, including disease-specic ligands, antibodies, anticancer drugs, and imaging probes. This can be done with a single molecule or several molecules/ligands simultaneously. This allows them to be targeted to specic cells or molecules either on the surface or interior of the targeted cells. In addition, nanocarriers have been developed to deliver drugs or imaging molecules to targeted cells.2
