Press Release -- 17 October 2003
NANOMEDICINE, VOL. IIA: BIOCOMPATIBILITY
by Robert A. Freitas Jr.
has been published by Landes Bioscience
The second volume in the Nanomedicine book series by Robert A. Freitas Jr.,
Nanomedicine, Vol. IIA: Biocompatibility, has been published by Landes
Bioscience. This comprehensive technical book describes the many possible
responses of the human body to the in vivo introduction of future medical
nanorobots. Such advanced nanodevices could quickly eliminate pathogens and
cancer cells, conduct molecular repairs of damaged biological structures,
and restore and maintain the body in a state of youthful health,
revolutionizing 21st century medicine. It is likely that the first medical
nanorobots may be buildable 10-20 years from today using an advanced
molecular manufacturing technology.
The first volume in the Nanomedicine book series, Nanomedicine, Vol. I:
Basic Capabilities, was published by Landes Bioscience in 1999. Volume I
described manufacturing pathways for medical nanorobots and the many
technical capabilities these nanodevices must have in order to perform their
medical missions - including onboard sensors, molecular pumps and valves,
computers, energy supplies and power transmissions, and components for
communication, navigation, manipulation and locomotion.
Volume IIA extends this analysis by considering whether medical nanorobots
will be biologically compatible with the human body. The safety,
effectiveness, and utility of medical nanorobotic devices will critically
depend upon their biocompatibility with human organs, tissues, cells, and
biochemical systems. While classical biocompatibility has often focused on
the immunological and thrombogenic reactions of the body to foreign
substances placed within it, Nanomedicine Vol. IIA broadens the definition
of nanomedical biocompatibility to include all of the mechanical,
physiological, immunological, cytological, and biochemical responses of the
human body to the introduction of medical nanodevices, whether "particulate"
or "bulk" in form.
Since a common building material for medical nanorobots is likely to be
diamond or diamondoid substances, the first and most obvious question is
whether diamondoid devices or their components are likely to be hazardous to
the human body. Chapter 15.1 briefly explores the potential for crude
mechanical damage to human tissues caused by the ingestion or inhalation of
diamond or related particles.
Classical biocompatibility refers to the assessment of the totality of
nanorobot surface material-tissue/fluid interactions, both local and
systemic. These interactions may include cellular adhesion, local
biological effects, systemic and remote effects, and the effects of the host
on the implant. Chapter 15.2 summarizes the current status of medical
implant biocompatibility and then discusses the important future nanomedical
issues of protein interactions with nanorobot surfaces, immunoreactivity,
inflammation, coagulation and thrombosis, allergic reactions and shock,
fever, mutagenicity and carcinogenicity.
A great deal of preliminary information is already available on the
biocompatibility of various materials that are likely to find extensive use
in medical nanorobots. Chapter 15.3 includes a review of the experimental
literature describing the known overall biocompatibility of diamond, carbon
fullerenes and nanotubes, nondiamondoid carbon, fluorinated carbon (e.g.,
Teflon), sapphire and alumina, and a few other possible nanomedical
materials such as DNA and dendrimers - in both bulk and particulate forms.
The purposeful movement of solid bodies and particulate matter through the
various systems of the human body is also of particular interest in
nanomedicine. Chapter 15.4 examines the requirements for intact motile
nanorobots that can locomote inside the human body while avoiding
geometrical trapping, phagocytosis, and granulomatization, thus achieving
controlled or indefinite persistence without clearance by the natural immune
system. The analysis extends to the fate of free-floating nanorobots and
their material ejecta, or fragments, as well as the fate of motile
nanorobots that have malfunctioned and lost their mobility, or which are
moving passively through the body, or are being driven by cell-mediated
processes.
Chapter 15.5 describes the mechanical interactions of nanorobotic systems
with human skin and other epithelial tissues, including mechanical tissue
penetration and perforation leakage, as well as mechanical interactions with
vascular systems, extracellular matrix and tissue cells, and nontissue cells
such as erythrocytes, platelets, and leukocytes. The Chapter ends with a
detailed review of cytomembrane and intracellular mechanocompatibility, and
a brief consideration of electrocompatibility and nanorobot-nanorobot
mechanocompatibility.
Finally, otherwise biocompatible medical nanodevices might provoke unwanted
reactions by simple physical displacement of critical biological systems or
fluids. Chapter 15.6 examines issues of volumetric intrusiveness - the
degree to which artificial systems can safely displace natural systems
volumetrically. The brief discussion includes a look at the acceptable
limits of volumetric intrusiveness of macroscopic objects placed inside the
human body (or its various organs), the bloodstream, and in individual human
cells.
The primary intended audience of this book is biomedical engineers,
biocompatibility engineers, medical systems engineers, research
physiologists, clinical laboratory analysts, and other technical and
professional people who are seriously interested in the future of medical
technology.
The full Table of Contents for the book Nanomedicine, Vol. IIA (2003), is
available online at http://www.nanomedicine.com/NMIIA.htm. The book is
currently available for purchase at $99 in hardcover from Amazon.com at
http://www.amazon.co...ASIN/1570597006, and includes 348 pages,
6259 literature references, and an extensive index. Interested parties may
contact the author by email at rfreitas@rfreitas.com or visit his homepage
at http://www.rfreitas.com.
The full text of the first volume in the series, Nanomedicine, Vol. I
(1999), is available online at http://www.nanomedicine.com/NMI.htm, and the
book may also be purchased at $89 in softcover from Amazon.com at
http://www.amazon.co...il/-/1570596808, from Barnes &
Noble at
http://search.barnes...isbn=1570596808,
or from many other web sources.
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