"Magnetic nanoparticles: biomedical applications and challenges" Among Most Read Articles in Journal of Materials Chemistry

An article written by graduate student Nhiem Tran and Associate Professor Thomas J. Webster, ‘Magnetic nanoparticles: biomedical applications and challenges’ was one of the top ten most-read articles from the online version of Journal of Materials Chemistry for October 2010.


Here is an abstract of the article:
The progress in the development of magnetic nanoparticle based therapies for various biomedical applications is reviewed here. Most significantly, magnetic nanoparticles have been widely used in drug delivery and hyperthermia treatment for cancer. However, recent applications of magnetic nanoparticles demonstrate their promise towards decreasing implant infection and increasing tissue growth. To build the most effective magnetic nanoparticle systems for various biomedical applications, particle characteristics including size, surface chemistry, magnetic properties and toxicity have to be fully investigated. In this review, several new applications of magnetic nanoparticles in the medical arena as well as remaining challenges for such clinical use are discussed.

Full link:
http://pubs.rsc.org/en/Content/ArticleLanding/2010/JM/C0JM00994F

Canadian Press article featuring nanoscience

Tiny particles lead medicine from science fiction to nanorobots fighting cancer
Jan 7, 2009

Article Excerpt:
Thomas Webster, an associate professor of engineering at Brown University in Providence, R.I., says that to peer at the intricacies of various tissues, such as bone or skin, through a super-powered microscope is to enter the nano world at a glance.

"What we're finding out is that nanomaterials make up our tissues," says Webster, editor-in-chief of the International Journal of Nanomedicine, who points as an example to enzymes and proteins that power the functions that give us life.

"So we are walking nano things. We are assembled from nanomaterials."

Nanotech to regrow cartilage

Excerpt from full article available here: http://www.sciam.com/article.cfm?id=nanotech-cartilage
Thomas Webster, an associate engineering professor at Brown University, and Brown researcher Dongwoo Khang, along with Grace Park, a research scientist (and one of Webster's former PhD students) at Becton, Dickinson and Company, a Franklin Lakes, N.J.–medical technology firm, say they grew cartilage cells by placing chondrocytes (cartilage-forming cells) and carbon nanotubes together on a polycarbonate urethane surface. As expected, cartilage cells grew around the nanotubes, which are so strong that scientists now use them to reinforce plastic. Researchers say they hastened new cell production by sending electrical surges through the nanotubes, which are also excellent conductors of electricity