Abstract
The late Nobel Physicist Richard P. Feynman, in a dinner talk in 1959, very rightly said that there is enough room for the betterment of technology beyond our scope of imagination, proposing utilizing mechanical tools to make those that are relatively smaller than the others, which further can be rendered fruitful in creating even more compact mechanical devices, all the way down to the level of the smallest known atom, emphasizing that this is “a progress which I believe cannot be avoided”.
Feynman proposed that nanomachines, nanorobots, and nanodevices may eventually be utilized to construct a huge range of atomically accurate microscopic instruments and manufacturing equipment, as well as a large number of ultra-small devices and other nanoscale and microscale robotic structures. Biotechnology, molecular biology, and molecular medicine could be used to create totally self-sufficient nanorobots/nanobots.
Nanorobotics includes sophisticated submicron devices constructed of nanocomponents that are viewed as a magnificent desired future of health care. It has a promising potential in medication delivery technology for cancer, the top cause of mortality among those under the age of 85 years. Nanorobots might transport and distribute vast volumes of anticancer medications into diseased cells without hurting normal cells, decreasing the adverse effects of existing therapies such as chemotherapy damage.
The ultimate development of this innovation, which will be accomplished via a close partnership among specialists in robotics, medicine, and nanotechnology, will have a significant influence on illness detection, therapy, and prophylaxis. This report includes a study on several ways to utilize nanorobots in cancer therapy. Furthermore, it offers insight into the future breadth of this area of research.
Introduction and Background
Using nanomolecular scale tools and biological nanomolecular knowledge of the human body, nanomedicines were designed to aim at treating and preventing diseases, preserving and improving human health. With the great development potential and application prospects in the treatment of tumors, the development of nanomedicines has been very rapid in the last few decades. Nanorobots, as one of the most promising applications of nanomedicines, allow one to access remote and hard-to-reach body regions, and perform various medical tasks.
Medical nanorobots are defined as untethered nanostructures that contain an engine or are capable of transforming diverse types of energy sources to mechanical forces and performing a medical task. Due to their small sizes, nanorobots can directly interact with cells and even penetrate them, providing direct access to the cellular machinery. As an interdisciplinary technology, nanorobots address the assembly and utilization of functional nano-to-molecular scale machines and have been widely used in cancer diagnosis and treatment.
Nanorobots are nanosized machinery able to deliver payloads (drugs, genes, sensing molecules, etc.), achieve certain (biomedical) functions (diagnosis, therapeutic actions), have to target ability to search for tumor/disease sites, as well have an active or passive power system able to receive external power sources (NIR light, ultrasound, magnetic driving force, etc.) or to utilize the mediums/blood flow existing in a biological system. The key difference between nanorobots and nanocarriers is the active power system.
Nanomedicines/nanocarriers can also be considered or included as a part of nanorobots, but without having an active power system. Researchers worldwide have devoted themselves to the research and development of cancer-killing nanorobots in the hope of introducing them into clinical practices and accomplishing medical modernization. One of the unmet and major challenges of nanorobotic technology is to introduce these nanorobotic tools to real-world clinical practices.
In recent years, various practical applications of micro- and nanorobots for cancer treatments have been realized from theory to practice, from in vitro experiments to in vivo applications. The size of a single biomolecule is at the nanometer scale, which limits the operation of microrobots. Robotic manipulations of biomolecules require the use of nanorobots with the same or a similar nanoscale.
In the process of exploring nanotechnology from laboratories to clinics for cancer treatment, nanorobots can achieve a variety of medical functions, including drug delivery, tumor detection and diagnosis, targeted therapy, minimally invasive surgery, and other comprehensive tasks. Miniaturization of the robotic technology and its combination with advanced medical technologies make it possible for numerous biomedical applications, including precision and targeted medication
Nanorobots and Their Types
Nanorobots are miniaturized machines that can perform work at par with that of current existing machines, having applications in the aspects of medicine, industry, and other areas like the development of nanomotors employed for the conservation of energy; nanorobots have also proved to be serviceable in reducing infertility problems by acting as an engine and giving a boost to the sperm motility when attached to them.
Organic and inorganic nanorobots are by far the most commonly studied. Organic nanorobots, also known as bio-nanorobots, are created by combining virus and bacterium DNA cells. This type of nanorobot is less harmful to the organism. Diamond structures, synthetic proteins, and other materials are used to make inorganic nanobots, which are more hazardous than organic nanobots. To overcome this hurdle of toxicity, researchers have devised a way involving encapsulating the robot, thus decreasing its chances of being destructed by the body’s self-defense mechanism.
Scientists can gain an understanding of how to energize micro and nano-sized devices using reactionary processes if they understand the biological motors of live cells. The Chemistry Institute of the Federal Fluminense University created a nano valve, which is made up of a tank covered with a shutter in which dye molecules are housed and may leave uniformly whenever the cover is opened. This gadget is also natural, made of silica (SiO2), beta-cyclodextrins, and organo-metallic molecules, and shall be used in therapeutic applications.
Proteins are employed in certain studies to feed nanomotors that can move huge objects, as well as the use of DNA hybridization and antibody protein in the development of nanorobots. DNA hybridization is defined as a process by which two complementary single-stranded DNA and/or RNA molecules bond together to form a double-stranded molecule. A nanorobot can be functionalized using a variety of chemical compounds. It has been investigated in nanomedicine in DDS, which operates directly on targeted cells of the human body.
Researchers create devices that can administer medications to precise places while simultaneously adjusting the dose and amount of release. This DDS using nanorobots can be used to treat joint disorders, dental problems, diabetes, cancer, hepatitis, and other conditions. One of the benefits of this technology is the potential to diagnose and treat illnesses with minimal impact on normal tissues, minimizing the likelihood of negative effects and guiding healing and remodeling therapy at the cellular and sub-cellular levels.
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Chemotherapy Drug Delivery using Nanorobots
New advances in medication delivery have resulted in greater quality in targeted drug delivery that uses nanosensors to detect particular cells and regulate discharges through the use of smart medicines. Traditional chemotherapeutic drugs act by eliminating swiftly replicating cells, which is a primary feature of malignant cells.
Most anticancer medications have a limited therapeutic boundary, often resulting in cytotoxicities to normal stem cells that proliferate quickly, such as bone marrow, macrophages, gastrointestinal tract (GIT), and hair follicles, causing adverse effects like myelosuppression (lower synthesis of WBCs, producing immunosuppression), mucositis (inflammation of the GIT lining), alopecia (hair loss), organ malfunction, thrombocytopenia/anemia, and hematological side effects, among other things. Doxorubicin is used to treat numerous forms of cancer, including Hodgkin’s disease, when it is combined with other antineoplastic medicines to minimize its toxicity.
Paclitaxel is a drug that is injected intravenously and is used to treat breast cancer. Some of the significant side effects include bone marrow suppression and progressive neurotoxicity. Cisplatin is an alkylating drug that results in the intra-DNA binding filament. Its negative effects include giddiness and severe vomiting, and it can be nephrotoxic. Camptothecin is applied to treat neoplasia by inhibiting type 1 topoisomerase, an enzyme required for cellular duplication of genetic information.
Numerous initiatives have been launched with the goal of employing nanotechnology to build DDS that can reduce the negative impacts of traditional therapy. On the surface of single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWNTs), doxorubicin was layered. Doxorubicin was used in metastatic tumor cells as a polymer prodrug/collagen hybrid. The use of polymeric pro-drug nanotechnology in the therapy of rapidly dividing abnormal cells is a novel advance in the field. Nanotechnology is continually looking for biocompatible materials that may be used as a DDS.
The nanoparticle hydroxyapatite (HA), a significant component of bone and teeth, was employed to deliver paclitaxel, an anti-neoplastic medication, and the out-turn implies that therapy should begin with hydrophobic medicines. Various initiatives have been launched with the goal of employing nanotechnology to build DDS, which can reduce the negative influence of traditional chemotherapy. The limitation of conservative chemotherapeutics is that it is unable to target malignant cells exclusively. These above-listed adverse effects often result in a delay in treatment, reduced drug dose, or intermittent stopping of the therapy
Conclusion
The main target of writing this review was to provide an outline of the technological development of nanotechnology in medicine by making a nanorobot and introducing it to the medication of cancer as a new mode of drug delivery. Cancer is described as a collection of diseases characterized by the unregulated development and spread of malignant cells in the body, and the number of people diagnosed every year keeps adding up.
Cancer treatment is most likely the driving force behind the creation of nanorobotics; it can be auspiciously treated using existing medical technology and therapeutic instruments, with the major help of nanorobotics. To decide the prognosis and chances of survival in a cancer patient, consider the following factors: A better prognosis can be achieved if the evolution of the disease is time-dependent and a timely diagnosis is made. Another important aspect is to reduce the side effects of chemotherapy on the patients by forming efficient targeted drug delivery systems.
Programmable nanorobotic devices working at the cellular and molecular level would help doctors carry out precise treatment. In addition to resolving gross cellular insults caused by non-reversible mechanisms or to the biological tissues stored cryogenically, mechanically reversing the process of atherosclerosis, enhancing the immune system, replacing or re-writing the DNA sequences in cells at will, improving total respiratory capacity, and achieving near-instant homeostasis, medically these nanorobots have been put forward for use in various branches of dentistry, research in pharmaceuticals, and aid and abet clinical diagnosis.
When nanomechanics becomes obtainable, the ideal goal of physicians, medical personnel, and every healer throughout known records will be realized. Microscale robots with programmable and controllable nanoscale components produced with nanometre accuracy would enable medical physicians to perform at the cellular and molecular levels to heal and carry out rehabilitating surgeries. Nanomedical doctors of the 21st century will continue to make effective use of the body’s inherent therapeutic capacities and homeostatic systems, since, all else being equal, treatments that intervene the least are the best.