Nanotechnology Applications in Drug Controlled Release

Abstract

Nanotechnology is the manipulation of matter, involving physical and chemicaltransformations, in order to produce materials at the nanoscale. The word nano,which derives from Latin, signifies dwarf and mathematically is the billionthpart of a meter. Nanotechnology comprises the study, design, creation, synthesis,characterization, manipulation and application of materials, apparatus and systemsthrough the control of material structure at the nanoscale, and the exploitation ofphenomena and properties of matter at atomic or molecular scale. When manipulatingmatter at nanoscale, the material properties change. For example, quantumeffects have dominance, the surface area increases, and thermal, electrical, andmagnetic property of the material varies. Nanotechnology is emerging as a fieldin medicine that is expected to elicit significant therapeutic benefits to improvedrugs bioavailability.Drug delivery research is clearly moving from the micro to the nanoscale. Anideal drug-delivery system must be able to target and control the drug release.Targeting will ensure high efficiency of the drug and reduce the side effects,especially when dealing with drugs that are presumed to kill cancer cells but canalso kill healthy cells when delivered to them. The reduction or prevention of sideeffects can also be achieved by controlled release. The formulation of nanosizedsystems for the delivery of drugs is very attractive to scientists for differentreasons, of which one of the most important is that there is an increase in the ratiobetween the number of atoms or molecules on the surface and the total number ofatoms or molecules. Accordingly, the surface area increases, helping to bind,adsorb or carry compounds such as drugs, probes, and proteins.