Nanotechnology and Medicine
Running Head: NANOTECHNOLOGY AND UNDERSTANDING ITS CONCEPTS IN MEDICINE
Nanotechnology and Medicine
Gladys Masker
Contemporary Applications of the Sciences SCI215
Argosy University Online
NANOTECHNOLOGY AND UNDERSTANDING ITS CONCEPTS IN MEDICINE To understand the concepts of nanotechnology and its uses, we must first get an understanding of what nanotechnology is.
The size of a nanometer is a billionth of a meter, or 10-9 of a meter. To illustrate the size of a manometer, picture 100,000 manometers as the thickness of a sheet of newspaper. It also takes 25,000,000 manometers to make up one inch. On a comparative scale, if a marble were a nanometer, then one meter would be the size of the Earth (What is Nanotechnology, retrieved 1/13/15). Everything around us is made up of atoms; our bodies, food we eat and the clothes we wear, houses we live in, and the air we breathe. All we touch, see, and smell are made up of atoms. None of the atoms that make up our world can be seen with the naked eye or with a typical microscope that is used in high school science labs. If an atom cannot be seen with a regular microscope, then a manometer will definitely not be seen either. In order to see what a nanometer is, a special microscope was invented about 30 years ago, which now makes it easier to see nanometers in larger scales. While nanotechnologies in our modern life are relatively new, ancient people have used them for centuries. Alternate-sized gold and silver particles created colors in the stained glass windows of medieval churches hundreds of years ago. The artists back then just did not know that the process they used to create these beautiful works of art actually led to changes in the composition of the materials they were working with. Today 's scientists and engineers are finding a wide variety of ways to deliberately make materials at the nanoscale to take advantage of their enhanced properties such as higher strength, lighter weight, increased
Nanotechnology and Medicine
Gladys Masker
Contemporary Applications of the Sciences SCI215
Argosy University Online
NANOTECHNOLOGY AND UNDERSTANDING ITS CONCEPTS IN MEDICINE To understand the concepts of nanotechnology and its uses, we must first get an understanding of what nanotechnology is.
The size of a nanometer is a billionth of a meter, or 10-9 of a meter. To illustrate the size of a manometer, picture 100,000 manometers as the thickness of a sheet of newspaper. It also takes 25,000,000 manometers to make up one inch. On a comparative scale, if a marble were a nanometer, then one meter would be the size of the Earth (What is Nanotechnology, retrieved 1/13/15). Everything around us is made up of atoms; our bodies, food we eat and the clothes we wear, houses we live in, and the air we breathe. All we touch, see, and smell are made up of atoms. None of the atoms that make up our world can be seen with the naked eye or with a typical microscope that is used in high school science labs. If an atom cannot be seen with a regular microscope, then a manometer will definitely not be seen either. In order to see what a nanometer is, a special microscope was invented about 30 years ago, which now makes it easier to see nanometers in larger scales. While nanotechnologies in our modern life are relatively new, ancient people have used them for centuries. Alternate-sized gold and silver particles created colors in the stained glass windows of medieval churches hundreds of years ago. The artists back then just did not know that the process they used to create these beautiful works of art actually led to changes in the composition of the materials they were working with. Today 's scientists and engineers are finding a wide variety of ways to deliberately make materials at the nanoscale to take advantage of their enhanced properties such as higher strength, lighter weight, increased
References: http://mritechnicianschools.net/2010/25-ways-nanotechnology-is-revolutionalizing-medicine/ http://nano.cancer.gov/learn/ http://www.nano.gov/nanotech-101/what/definition http://www.nanotechproject.org/inventories/medicine/ http://pharmaceuticalintelligence.com/2013/03/04/nanotechnology-and-heart-disease/ http://www.yalescientific.org/2013/02/microbots-using-nanotechnology-in-medicine/