Nanotechnology in medicine refers to the use of nanoscale materials and devices to prevent, diagnose, monitor, and treat diseases. Nanomedicine is the term used to refer to the applications of nanotechnologies in medicine and healthcare. Nanotechnologies exhibit significant potential in the field of medicine, including in imaging techniques and diagnostic tools, drug delivery systems, tissue-engineered constructs, implants, and pharmaceutical therapeutics. The use of nanotechnology in medicine offers some exciting possibilities, and many techniques only imagined a few years ago are making remarkable progress towards becoming realities. Some of the key applications of nanotechnology in medicine include:

• Drug delivery: Nanoparticles can be engineered to deliver drugs, heat, light, or other substances to specific types of cells, such as cancer cells, which allows direct treatment of those cells and reduces damage to healthy cells in the body.

• Imaging and diagnostic tools: Nanotechnologies can be used to develop imaging techniques and diagnostic tools that are more accurate and less invasive than current methods.

• Tissue engineering: Nanotechnology can be used to create tissue-engineered constructs that can be used to replace damaged or diseased tissue.

• Implants: Nanotechnology can be used to develop implants that are more biocompatible and have better performance than current implants.

• Pharmaceutical therapeutics: Nanotechnology can be used to develop pharmaceutical therapeutics that are more effective and have fewer side effects than current drugs.

Nanotechnologies are also proving to be very helpful when it comes to managing diseases that require strict adherence to a prescribed drug regimen. Research suggests that upward of 50% of patients with chronic diseases fail to take their medicine as prescribed, but this problem can be countered using nanotechnologies that are programmed to automatically release medicines. Nanotechnology can also be leveraged for ultra-precise disease treatment, such as using nanorobots containing small motors that allow them to navigate to particular regions of the body and deliver themselves to the disease site, take pictures, and send them to the doctor or patient.