Nanotechnology Enabled In situ Sensors for Monitoring Health
Until recently, there has been little research into how to use nanotechnology and sensors in health monitoring. Nanotechnology Enabled In Situ Sensors for Monitoring Health is written to coalesce research efforts to design sensors based on nano
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Thomas J. Webster Editor
Nanotechnology Enabled In situ Sensors for Monitoring Health
Editor Thomas J. Webster School of Engineering Brown University 182 Hope Street Providence, RI 02917 USA [email protected]
ISBN 978-1-4419-7290-3 e-ISBN 978-1-4419-7291-0 DOI 10.1007/978-1-4419-7291-0 Springer New York Dordrecht Heidelberg London © Springer Science+Business Media, LLC 2011 All rights reserved. This work may not be translated or copied in whole or in part without the written permission of the publisher (Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, 233 Spring Street, New York, NY 10013, USA), except for brief excerpts in connection with reviews or scholarly analysis. Use in connection with any form of information storage and retrieval, electronic adaptation, computer software, or by similar or dissimilar methodology now known or hereafter developed is forbidden. The use in this publication of trade names, trademarks, service marks, and similar terms, even if they are not identified as such, is not to be taken as an expression of opinion as to whether or not they are subject to proprietary rights. Printed on acid-free paper Springer is part of Springer Science+Business Media (www.springer.com)
This book is dedicated to the best nano sensors of them all: Mia, Zoe and Ava
Foreword
Nanotechnology will help the development of new in situ biosensors. A smart “chip” capable of monitoring, diagnosing, and treating diseases within the human body is a dream for both patients and doctors. Imagine that you have a joint prosthesis implanted with a sensor at the bone-implant interface during surgery. After you come home, the sensor will continuously tell you whether infection is occurring and if it is, will transmit signals to external receivers to tell you that you have an infected implant and will excite an antibiotic reservoir attached to it to treat the infected implant. As a result, you will be monitored and treated without going to the hospital which could significantly delay diagnosis and treatment. Sounds like a far-far away future technology? Actually this scenario is becoming reality and may be a part of your life in just 10 years, if not earlier. In situ medical sensors, contrary to remote sensors, are those which are placed right at implant sites where they are needed (e.g., the brain, joints, injury sites, etc.) detecting physical, chemical, biological signals, and potentially responding to such stimuli to improve device performance (Fig. 1). Without a doubt, using nanotechnology-derived in situ sensors in the human body means higher accuracy and higher resolution in health monitoring. There is a long history of using sensors for external monitoring, but the use of internal in situ sensors in the medical community has become promising via recent nanotechnology developments. Because in situ biosensors need to be placed in diverse environments (as small as individual cells), sensor miniaturization is a priority. Advanced micro- and nanofabrication methods make it possible to construct delicate micro/nanodevic
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