Biocompatible nanoparticles in medicine: from design to clinical translation

Abstract

Biocompatible nanoparticles are extensively acknowledged as exceptionally promising platforms for therapeutic interventions and drug delivery mechanisms, with well-established applications in tissue engineering, gene therapy, medical imaging, and pathogen identification. Their unique size-dependent attributes including electrical and thermal conductivity, heat capacity, melting point, and magnetic properties can generally be manipulated through the regulation of size, shape, and composition, rendering them indispensable for catalytic and biomedical applications. Nevertheless, considerable challenges persist in reconciling the disparity between nanoparticle potential and practical application. Although nanoparticles have different behaviors from bulk materials, a complete understanding of the mechanical, thermal, and magnetic properties influenced by size is still lacking. The ability of nanoparticles to pass through biological barriers and trigger effects such as cardiotoxicity, pulmonary inflammation, and neurotoxic manifestations raise prominent risks. Additionally, some metallic nanoparticles, particularly silver, can be ecotoxic to the water environment. This review attempts to simplify relieving these intricate issues by systematically explaining the many variables, particularly size, relating to the properties of nanoparticles and their implications in medicine and catalysis. The reserach emphasizes the significant differences in the behaviors of nanoparticles and bulk materials and the need for integrated understandings of diverse fields to describe the physical properties and the relationship with molecular biology. With the recently improved methods of synthesis and characterization, there is a greater extent of control in the design of nanoparticles for specific applications. This has also been made feasible by the careful manipulation of size-dependent variables and contemporary advances in the field. This study emphasizes the necessity of ongoing interdisciplinary research to enhance environmental safety profiles, build scalable production methods, and produce more environmentally friendly synthesis techniques. The findings show that even though research on nanoparticles is still in its infancy, there is a great deal of potential for ground-breaking discoveries as new synthesis and control methods are created, suggesting a greater variety of imaginative uses in this rapidly evolving field.