A nanoparticle with a diameter of 5-100 nm consists of 103-106 atoms. Threadlike and film-like particles may contain considerably more atoms and have even two linear sizes, but their properties remain characteristic of a substance having a nanocrystalline structure. The ratio of linear sizes of nanoparticles allows them to be viewed as one-, two- or three-dimensional (1D-, 2D- and 3D-nanoparticles, respectively). They are usually referred to as nanostructures.

Nanomaterials can be made up of inorganic compounds (metals, carbon derivatives and others) and organic, including natural compounds (proteins, fatty acids, nucleic acids). The latter constitute one of the sections of nanotechnology – nanobiotechnology or biomolecular nanotechnology.

The medical additions of nanotechnology have contributed to the emergence of a new scientific field: nanomedicine. It encompasses such sections as tracking, repairing, constructing and controlling human biological systems at the molecular level with the help of engineered nanodevices and nanomaterials, enabling operations from diagnostics and monitoring to the destruction of pathogenic microorganisms, restoration of damaged organs, supplying necessary substances to the body.

According to the forecasts of the American association National Science Foundation, the market volume of goods and services using nanotechnology may amount to 1 trillion U.S. dollars in the next 10-15 years. The global market for nanodevices will grow by an average of 28% per year.

The post Nanomedicine: achievements and prospects for the development of the latest technologies in diagnosis and treatment. appeared first on Medical Structure.

Neuroprosthetics or neural prosthetics is a field of biomedical engineering and neurobiology concerned with the development of neural prostheses and their operation. The system was first used to replace sensory and motor functions. And scientists are exploring different options for delivering signals to the nervous system.

Prosthetics researchers are now trying to provide a prosthesis that will feel objects just as well as a real hand, perhaps even better. After all, such a prosthesis can lift objects weighing up to 20 kg!

After a limb is amputated, the motor nerves that controlled it remain in the body. The remaining nerves can be surgically transferred to a small section of a large muscle (this is called reinnervation). For example, to the large pectoral muscle, if we are talking about an amputated arm. As a result, the person thinks that he or she should move the finger. The brain sends a signal to the part of the pectoral muscle to which the nerve that used to go to the fingers is attached. The signal is picked up by electrodes that send the pulse through wires to a processor inside the robotic arm. This is where electromyography helps. This technology records the difference in electrical potentials that occur when a muscle works. It picks up the movement of the reinnervated part of the pectoral muscle, and the signal is then transmitted to the desired part of the prosthesis, and that part moves.

Targeted sensory reinnervation is carried out in the same way. It is needed so that the person can feel touch, heat or pressure with the prosthesis. The procedure is reversed. The surgeon reattaches the remaining sensory nerve to the skin area on the chest. And the sensors on the prosthesis transmit a signal from touch to this very skin area. And the person experiences tactile sensations.

Neuroprosthetics is a global topic for the future. Technology is becoming a reality thanks to the hard work of scientists. Perhaps in the future scientists will develop cognitive implants, making us smarter and stronger… Will we become a cyber society…?

The post Neuroprosthetics or neural prosthetics appeared first on Medical Structure.