Nanomedicine Cleanrooms – Nanotechnology
Nanomedicine Cleanrooms for Nanotherapeutics and nanomedicinal purposes
The nanomedicine cleanrooms industry is seeing great growth with the influx in nanotherapeutics and nanomedicinal research and development. Nanoscience and nanotechnology are the study and application of extremely small things and can be used across all the other science fields, such as chemistry, biology, physics, materials science, and engineering. Nanotechnology in medicine involves applications of nanoparticles currently under development, as well as longer range research that involves the use of manufactured nano-robots to make repairs at the cellular level (sometimes referred to as nanomedicine).
Nanomedicine Cleanrooms for the development of Nanomedicine
Today, nanomedicines are used globally to improve the treatments and lives of patients suffering from a range of disorders including ovarian and breast cancer, kidney disease, fungal infections, elevated cholesterol, menopausal symptoms, multiple sclerosis, chronic pain, asthma and emphysema. These intricate treatments are researched and created in nanomedicine cleanrooms, where the strictest standards for airborne particulate counts, humidity and temperature control and aseptic environmental control is of utmost importance. The nanomedicines that are currently available are overcoming some of the difficulties experienced by normal medical approaches in delivering the benefit from the drug molecules used. In some cases the drugs have very little solubility in water and the human body struggles to absorb enough to treat the condition. In other cases, the drug molecule is absorbed well but the body removes the drug before it has had long enough to provide a benefit. Drugs may lead to side-effects due to poor delivery at the actual site of disease. For example, drugs that are targeting cancers must avoid healthy tissues and organs or damage can be caused. Nanomedicines help to ensure enough of the drug enters the body, stays for the intended period of time and is targeted specifically to the areas that need treatment. The Nanomedicine and Bionanotechnology area uses the various technologies developed in materials, nanofabrication, devices, and M/NEMS to study and solve biological and medical problems. Below are some examples of research activities being carried out in nanomedicine cleanrooms and controlled environmental chambers.
- High sensitivity disease diagnostics using optical/electronic “chips”
- Development of new tools for understanding the function of cancer cells, stem cells and neurons
- Photonic crystals for label-free biological detection
- Integrated biochips for label-free electrical detection of DNA and proteins
- Semiconductor quantum dot nanoparticles for quantitative biomedical imaging
- Engineered systems built with live cells
- Integration of biosensing with mobile communications platforms
Both the academic community and the pharmaceutical industry are making large scale investments of time and money in nanotherapeutics or nanomedicines. Nearly 50 biomedical products incorporating nanoparticles are already on the market, and many more are moving through the pipeline, with dozens in Phase 2 or Phase 3 clinical trials. The increasing development of the nanotech industry presents large growth opportunities for pharmaceutical cleanroom manufacturers, nanomedicine cleanrooms, nanotherapeutics cleanrooms.
A nanomedicine cleanroom provides an environment that minimizes contaminants, which may adversely affect the processing of a sample. It is a facility in which the concentration of airborne particulates and other contaminants are controlled to remain below specific threshold limits. The nanomedicine cleanroom industry will undergo double digit growth to accommodate the research and development of nanomedicine. It is early in the age of nanotechnology and nanomedicine. Stay tuned for more growth in the nanotech cleanroom markets!