Nanotechnology and Real Time Monitoring of Health

Written by: Sachin Gautamadasa October 15 2021

Introduction
With the advancement of nanotech, the possibility of complete real time monitoring of your body
becomes more realistic. We have some ability to monitor a person's health in real time with
wearable consumer devices such as a Fitbit or pedometers, But with nanotech becoming more
commonplace it may soon be widespread to have 24/7 health monitoring from within the body.
This will have many benefits, mainly in medicine. Diagnosing an illness early is very important
for maximizing a patient's chance of survival. In people suffering from diabetes, this technology
could be used to monitor blood sugar levels without requiring pricking your finger or replacing a
sensor every few days. And your body could be monitored 24/7, watching for signs of a heart
attack, as well as many other applications that would be impossible with conventional medicine.
However, this technology also has its downsides, with privacy concerns being a big issue.

Nanorobots
Nanorobotics technology is one of the many ways
that 24/7 monitoring of a person's health will be
achieved. They would be capable of being inserted
into the human body and measuring the internal
conditions of one’s body all the time. Use of this
technology could range from monitoring blood
sugar levels, checking for cancers, and many
others.
Diabetes
Currently, people suffering from diabetes who want to measure their blood sugar levels are
required to either draw a small amount of blood 4-10 times a day1, or they have to use a
continuous glucose monitor, which still has its downsides such as having to replace the sensor
every few weeks.2 The use of nanorobots could allow always keeping track of glucose levels
without the downside of the other methods. The robots would only have to be replenished every
90 days compared to the amount of injections from the other methods. The robots could also
secrete the necessary amount of insulin when they detect abnormal glucose levels.3

1
Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research. (2020, January 21). Blood sugar testing: Why,
when and how. Mayo Clinic. Retrieved October 10, 2021, from
https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/diabetes/in-depth/blood-sugar/art-20046628.
2
Brown, G. (2020, September 30). What's a CGM and how to pick one. Healthline. Retrieved October 10,
2021, from
https://www.healthline.com/diabetesmine/what-is-continuous-glucose-monitor-and-choosing-one.
3
Trafton, A. (2013, May 16). Nanotechnology could help fight diabetes. MIT News | Massachusetts
Institute of Technology. Retrieved October 10, 2021, from
https://news.mit.edu/2013/nanotechnology-could-help-fight-diabetes-0516.
Cancer
Nanorobots within the body could be used to screen for various types of cancer in people in
order to get an early diagnosis and to search and destroy cancer cells in those suffering from
cancer. An early diagnosis of cancer makes it a lot easier to treat cancer because the tumor would
not have not grown much, reducing the amount of treatment needed. The nanorobots would also
be able to seek out cancer cells within the body, and destroy them without the death of healthy
tissues.4

Epidermal Electronics
Monitoring can also be achieved from outside the
body. Using minimally invasive sensors on the
skin, many of your vital signs can be monitored.5
Using the properties of nanotechnology electronics
could be attached to your skin and monitor your
blood pressure, temperature, and other vital signs.
One example is a ‘tattoo’ that monitors UV
exposure.6

Privacy Concerns
However, the main obstacle to this technology will
be people reluctant to adopt these new technologies, primarily for privacy reasons. A common
concern in this day and age is your private information being stolen or sold. Another worry is
that the information could be used to increase your insurance premiums.7 Your medical data is
some of the most sensitive information about yourself and this worry will make many reluctant
to use wearables with access to so much personal information. This can be avoided by makers of
this technology being transparent about how much data they collect and what they do with it.8

4
Li, S., Jiang, Q., Liu, S., Zhang, Y., Tian, Y., Song, C., Wang, J., Zou, Y., Anderson, G. J., Han, J.-Y.,
Chang, Y., Liu, Y., Zhang, C., Chen, L., Zhou, G., Nie, G., Yan, H., Ding, B., & Zhao, Y. (2018). A DNA
nanorobot functions as a cancer therapeutic in response to a molecular trigger in vivo. Nature
Biotechnology, 36(3), 258–264. https://doi.org/10.1038/nbt.4071
5
Skin to e-skin. (2017). Nature Nanotechnology, 12(11), 1017–1017.
https://doi.org/10.1038/nnano.2017.228
6
Berger, M. (2019, October 6). Stick-on epidermal electronics tattoo to measure UV exposure (w/video).
Nanotechnology. Retrieved October 11, 2021, from
https://www.nanowerk.com/spotlight/spotid=45164.php.
7
Ethics of Wearables: Health Data and Wellness Technology. UIC Online Health Informatics. (2020,
December 9). Retrieved October 11, 2021, from
https://healthinformatics.uic.edu/blog/ethics-of-wearables/.
8
Talebi, N., Hallam, C., & Zanella, G. (2016). The new wave of privacy concerns in the wearable
devices era. 2016 Portland International Conference on Management of Engineering and Technology
(PICMET). https://doi.org/10.1109/picmet.2016.7806826
Bibliography
Cavalcanti, A., Shirinzadeh, B., & Kretly, L. C. (2008). Medical nanorobotics for diabetes
control. Nanomedicine: Nanotechnology, Biology and Medicine, 4(2), 127–138.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.nano.2008.03.001
Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research. (2020, January 21). Blood sugar testing:
Why, when and how. Mayo Clinic. Retrieved October 10, 2021, from
https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/diabetes/in-depth/blood-sugar/art-20046628.
Brown, G. (2020, September 30). What's a CGM and how to pick one. Healthline. Retrieved
October 10, 2021, from
https://www.healthline.com/diabetesmine/what-is-continuous-glucose-monitor-and-choosing-one.
Trafton, A. (2013, May 16). Nanotechnology could help fight diabetes. MIT News |
Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Retrieved October 10, 2021, from
https://news.mit.edu/2013/nanotechnology-could-help-fight-diabetes-0516.
Li, S., Jiang, Q., Liu, S., Zhang, Y., Tian, Y., Song, C., Wang, J., Zou, Y., Anderson, G. J., Han,
J.-Y., Chang, Y., Liu, Y., Zhang, C., Chen, L., Zhou, G., Nie, G., Yan, H., Ding, B., & Zhao,
Y. (2018). A DNA nanorobot functions as a cancer therapeutic in response to a molecular trigger
in vivo. Nature Biotechnology, 36(3), 258–264. https://doi.org/10.1038/nbt.4071
Berger, M. (2017, September 26). Lab-on-skin: Nanotechnology electronics for wearable health
monitoring. Nanotechnology. Retrieved October 11, 2021, from
https://www.nanowerk.com/spotlight/spotid=48153.php.
Berger, M. (2019, October 6). Stick-on epidermal electronics tattoo to measure UV exposure
(w/video). Nanotechnology. Retrieved October 11, 2021, from
https://www.nanowerk.com/spotlight/spotid=45164.php.
Skin to e-skin. (2017). Nature Nanotechnology, 12(11), 1017–1017.
https://doi.org/10.1038/nnano.2017.228
Talebi, N., Hallam, C., & Zanella, G. (2016). The new wave of privacy concerns in the
wearable devices era. 2016 Portland International Conference on Management of Engineering
and Technology (PICMET). https://doi.org/10.1109/picmet.2016.7806826
Ethics of Wearables: Health Data and Wellness Technology. UIC Online Health Informatics.
(2020, December 9). Retrieved October 11, 2021, from
https://healthinformatics.uic.edu/blog/ethics-of-wearables/.