One of the applications of carbon nanotubes is the use of nanotubes in medical and non-medical applications. In the rest of these articles, you will learn about the applications of carbon nanotubes in medicine.

Carbon nanotubes are one of the nanostructured products that are widely used in medicine and medical engineering today. We will mention some of them in the upcoming article. And you will get to know the application of carbon nanotubes in medicine and medical engineering.

Nowadays, the use of carbon nanotubes in medicine has increased a lot compared to before, and many researches are conducted in this field. 

Application of carbon nanotubes in medicine

Carbon nanotubes are nowadays used in many medical researches such as biosensors and drug release. Single-walled nanotubes do not pose a problem for the body in terms of toxicity to body cells and triggering the security system. It has also been proven that single-walled nanotubes increase solubility and the possibility of targeted drug delivery.

One of the most common diseases in the world today is cancer, which kills many people every year. Current ways to treat cancer include surgery, chemotherapy and radiotherapy (treatment with electromagnetic waves). These methods are sometimes painful and in addition to the diseased cells, they also target the healthy cells of the body and are associated with side effects. Carbon nanotubes as drug carriers can target certain types of cancer cells and destroy cancer cells using a lower dose of drug. The same accuracy in targeting the sick cells causes less damage to the healthy cells and thus reduces the side effects of the drug.

Current methods for measuring blood sugar in a patient suffering from diabetes are typically invasive and often painful. For example, one of these methods is that a small sensor is inserted into the patient’s body through a needle, which measures the blood sugar level of the person every so often. Another method is that there are kits and blood must be placed on them in order to determine the amount of glucose in the blood. These methods are usually invasive and may lead to inaccurate results.

The extremely high electrochemically active surface, high electrical conductivity and suitable structural properties have made single-walled and multi-walled carbon nanotubes a very suitable option for use as highly sensitive and non-invasive sensors for glucose measurement.

Recently, researchers have succeeded in using carbon nanotubes as a bridge for the reconstruction and repair of nerve tissues. For more information on this matter.

The use of carbon nanotubes in drug release medicine and cancer treatment

Drug release is one of the growing fields that uses carbon nanotubes. The systems currently used for drug release include dendrimers, polymers, and liposomes. But the use of carbon nanotubes for this purpose provides the possibility of using effective structures that have high drug carrying capacity and permeability to cells. Nanotubes can be closed or open on both sides, and those with open ends have easier access because the medicinal agents are inside them. Of course, the use of nanotubes in drug release faces challenges such as low solubility, half-life, etc., and these problems seem to be solved with progress in this field.

• Targeted destruction of cancer cells

Carbon nanotubes can be used as multifunctional biological transmitters and IR agents to kill cancer cells. Biological systems are highly transparent for wavelengths of 100-700 nm (which are near infrared wavelengths).

In this treatment method, carbon nanotubes are moved near the patient’s cells and by applying infrared laser pulses, they cause heat. The increase of carbon nanotubes and as a result the spot heating of the cancer cells, as a result of this event, the cancer cells die. The transfer of carbon nanotubes to the patient’s cells is done using biological markers. Cancer cells have receptors that these markers bind to. This process causes the destruction of cancer cells, without any damage to the healthy cells of the body.

• Targeting tumors

Studies on mice have shown that functionalized carbon nanotubes that are injected into the body target cancer cells to a good extent and gather around them.

In general, nanotechnology in drug delivery has received much attention and many studies are conducted on it. You can get more information in this field by viewing  the infographic “Nano technology in drug delivery” . 

Using carbon nanotubes as biosensors

• Carbon nanotubes network as biological stress sensor

The resistance of a single carbon nanotube changes when a stress or strain is applied to it. This property can help measure applied stress. By forming a network of carbon nanotubes, it is possible to determine the exact current that must pass through this network as a result of applying voltage to it. This network can be inserted into orthopedic plates, clamps, screws and bone powders. In this way, the state of bone healing can be determined by measuring the pressure on each of these components. A repaired bone receives most of the force applied to it and causes less force to be applied to the plates, clamps or screws in the bone.

• Glucose measurement biosensors

Carbon nanotube–plasma polymer-based amperometric biosensors have been produced for very accurate glucose measurement. The basis of the measurement of these sensors is the measurement with changes in the passing current. A combination of glucose oxidase enzyme and carbon nanotubes wrapped by thin plasma polymerized layers form this sensor.

This biosensor has shown very high sensitivity and very fast response time. The plasma process for polymerizing carbon nanotubes creates a suitable substrate as an interface between nanotubes and glucose-binding enzyme.

• Improved biosensors with carbon nanotube electrodes

Improved microbial biosensor using carbon nanotube electrodes.

In general, the use of carbon nanotubes as electrodes or electrode improvers is widely used, and many researches are conducted in this field.

Toxicity problems

According to some researches, carbon nanotubes will not activate the body’s immune system. Of course, in terms of solvency, they have problems that have been solved by making them functional. The research results have shown that the functionalization of nanotubes with the help of lipids helps their solubility. It also makes their movement inside the body easier and faster and reduces the risk of blocking the vital arteries of the body, which makes it a very suitable option for use as drug carriers.

Disposal of carbon nanotubes after drug release is one of the challenges that this field is dealing with. Research continues to find ways to remove the nanotubes after they have done their job inside the body.

But in general, the use of carbon nanotubes has not yet been tested in the human body. Accurate and fully proven results of their toxicity in animals have not yet been obtained and research will continue.

Today, many applications for carbon nanotubes have been proposed in medicine, but there is still a need for more investigations for its toxicity and more tests should be done. But it seems that the problems of this issue will be solved in the future and eventually medicine will make great progress.