Nanotechnology is a relatively new branch of science that has found a wide range of

applications that range from

energy production to industrial production processes to biomedical applications.
nanotechnology
enable the creation of devices on the same scale as individual cells and
biomolecules, creating an unique approach
to bioimaging, biosensing, targeted drug delivery, hyperthermia,
photoablation therapy, and characterizing basic biological processes

Nanoparticles are used in biomedical applications as they

offer many advantages to larger particles such as increased surface to volume ratio
and increased magnetic properties [2]. Nanoparticles may be classified into
different
nanosystems. For the purpose of this review, nanoparticles will be divided
into four nanosystems; metallic nanoparticles, bimetallic or alloy nanoparticles,
metal oxide nanoparticles and magnetic nanoparticles.
cell labelling and gene delivery

The continual quest for new materials has resulted in powerful quantum predictive
methods, which not only lead to new materials, but also uncover novel chemical
phenomena, pointing to the limitations of the existing rules of chemistry and
extending
the boundaries of the known ones.
For example,
computational prediction has paved the way to the new record
of high-temperature superconductivity � exotic material H3S,
defying standard rules of chemistry and formed under pressure,
was experimentally shown to be a near-room-temperature
superconductor (Tc=203 K). Novel polymers, magnets,
thermoelectrics etc. are now predicted and experimentally
studied at an unprecedented pace.
Such predictive methods open new chapters of science, enabling matter and
extreme condictions of high pressure (such as those that reign in planetary and
stellar
interiors) and nanomaterials to be more systematically explored. Little by little,
the
nature of unexpected carcinogenicity of many nanoparticles is becoming clear. We
also
learn about the matter of the Universe and chemical processes inside heavenly
bodies
and our own Earth. Helium, the second most abundant element in the Universe, was
thought to be chemically inert � but recently shown to have a chemistry of its own
under pressure. While classical chemistry does not foresee such compounds as Mg3O2
or FeO2, these turn out to be stable, and may play a role in planetary evolution
(e.g.
cyclic �great oxygen events� that played a pivotal role in the evolution of life
and mass
extinctions). The simple alkali metal sodium, Na, under planetary pressures turns
out not
to be simple, alkali, or metallic � for example, becoming transparent and forming
such
�forbidden� compounds as Na3Cl and NaCl3.

Nanomedicine is a branch of nanotechnology and its ultimate tool is the

medical nanobot � a robot the size of a bacterium that can manipulate and control
materials at
an atomic and molecular level. While some might consider the future of nanorobots
as science
fiction, scientists point out that each of us is alive today because of countless
biological
nanobots operating within each of our trillions of cells. We call them ribosomes �
sphereshaped
structures within each cell that are essentially machines programmed with a
function of
reading messenger RNA and synthesizing specific proteins. Medical nanorobotics
holds a
greatest promise for regenerative medicine and with diligent effort, the first
fruits of medical
nanorobotics could begin to appear in clinical treatment as early as the 2020s

A research team from Drexel University (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania) has developed a

nanorobotic technology that is being considered for an important mission � drilling
through
clogged arteries and potentially curing atherosclerosis. This condition limits the
ability of
oxygen rich blood to reach vital organs and increases risk for heart attack or
stroke. These
nanobots are made up of tiny iron oxide beads, joined together in a chain. To
induce movement
through the blood stream, the chain is exposed to an external magnetic field.
Scientists were
able to control the speed, direction and size of the nano-chain based on the nature
of the
arterial occlusion. In 2016 the first tests were done on mice, and now the team
will move on to
testing in rabbits and pigs. They envision that if all goes as expected, by 2019
they�ll be
launching the bots into humans (via catheter injection).

metallic nanoparticles like

gold (Au) [112�130] and silver (Ag) [131�154], bimetallic nanoparticles like iron
cobalt (Fe�Co) [78�80,92�97,108,109] and iron platinum (Fe�Pt) [155�172] and
metal oxides including titanium dioxide (TiO2) [173�187], cerium dioxide (CeO2)
[188�194], silica (SiO2) [195�201] and zinc oxide (ZnO) [202�205] for possible
use in biomedical applications. We focus our attention on investigating the
potential
of metallic (Ag), bimetallic (Fe�Pt) and metal oxide (TiO2) nanoparticles for
possible use in drug delivery, hyperthermia, bioimaging, photothermal therapy,
cancer therapy and biosensors

Iron oxide
Iron oxide NPs are widely studied as a passive and active targeting imaging agent
as they are mainly
superparamagnetic. The superparamagnetic iron oxide NP (SPION) generally have an
iron oxide core with a
hydrophilic coat of dextran or other biocompatible compound to increase their
stability. The most widely used
SPIONs consist of a magnetite (Fe O ) and/or maghemite (?Fe O ) core. These NPs
exhibit size-dependent
superparamagnetism, which allows them to become magnetized with the application of
an external magnetic field
and exhibit zero net magnetization upon removal of the magnetic field. SPIONs have
been successfully used as T2-
weighted magnetic resonance (MR) contrast agents to track and monitor cells. SPIONs
have several advantages
over conventional gadolinium-chelate contrast agents including decreased toxicity
and increased imaging
sensitivity and specificity. SPIONS can also be degraded to iron and iron oxide
molecules that are metabolized,
stored in cells as ferritin, and incorporated into hemoglobin. Currently, two SPIO
agents, ferumoxides (120�180
nm) and ferucarbotran (60 nm) are clinically approved for MRI. SPIONs have also
been used in molecular imaging.
applications such as the detection of apoptosis and gene expression. SPIONs can be
functionalized with
magnetic, optical, radionuclide and specific targeting ligands for multimodal
imaging. They can also potentially be
used as non-invasive diagnostic tools and as drug delivery vehicles.

it was
seen that other magnetic nanomaterials such as Fe�Co, Cu�Ni, Fe�Ni, Co�Fe2O4
and Mn�Fe2O4, nanoparticles are being investigated for use in bioimaging [78�
91,109], hyperthermia [92�107,111] and drug delivery [84,85,90,101,104,106�
111] as possible alternatives to iron oxide nanoparticles
Quantum dot
First discovered in 1980, quantum dots (QDs) are semiconductor particles that are
less than 10 nm in diameter. QDs
display unique size-dependent electronic and optical properties. Most QDs studied
consist of a cadmium selenide
(CdSe) core and a zinc selenide (ZnS) cap. The absorption spectra of these
particles are very broad and emission
is confined to a narrow band. QDs can also emit bright colors, have long lifetimes,
high efficiencies and are stable
against photobleaching.
They can be generated to have different biochemical specificities and can be
simultaneously excited and detected. As a result, QDs have several significant
advantages over many organic
fluorophore dyes for optical applications. They are widely used in biological
research as fluorescence imaging tools
for applications such as cell labeling and biomolecule tracking. The small size of
quantum dots also enables
them to be suitable for biomedical applications such as medical imaging and
diagnostics.
Gold
Gold NPs offer many size-and-shape dependent optical and chemical properties,
biocompatibility, and facile
surface modification
These properties have enabled the realization of gold NPs in many applications such
as
biochemical sensing and detection, biological imaging, diagnostics, and therapeutic
applications. Sensing
techniques include the use of gold NPs in colorimetric arrays and the use of gold
NPs

Gold NP probes have also been used to detect heart disease and cancer
biomarkers. They can also transform absorbed light into heat and therefore, have
high potential for infrared
phototherapy.