Nanorobots or nanobots are used by researchers, and scientists to perform specific functions. One such function being drug delivery. The current drug delivery systems deliver the drugs to the entire body before targeting the specific affected area. Using nanobots, the medicine can be targeted to a specific area of concern, and only diseased cells are affected. With this technology side, effects on normal cells are minimized to almost nil.
The drug carriers are approximately 50-100nm wide. Once they enter the body, on detecting the signs of diseased cells the thin wires on the walls of the nanobots emit electrical signals that cause the walls to dissolve and the drug to be released. This is a targeted drug delivery system that holds a promising future in curing life-threatening diseases such as cancers.
Nanomedicine is the future of the pharmaceutical industry. Without a doubt, this technology holds the key to cure many diseases with its advantage of a targeted drug delivery system.
Elan Pharmaceuticals has already started using this technology in their drugs Merck’s Emend and Wyeth’s Rapamune.
Nanobots or nanotechnology robots are nano electrochemical systems that hold potential applications in the field of environmental monitoring and medicine.