Nanomaterials have attracted numerous attention due to their unique physical, chemical, electrical, magnetic, and optical properties. With the rapid development of nanomaterial design, synthesis and processing, they have been widely used in optics, batteries, sensors, and electronics to enhance the performance of products. Nanomaterials are being investigated in the simultaneous detection and treatment of cancer, neurological disorders, cardiovascular diseases, and infectious diseases over the past few decades. This is due to their multifunctionality and distinctive nanometric architecture. However, when nanomaterials are applied to disease diagnosis, bioimaging, drug delivery, and therapeutics, much higher standards are required since these health-related areas have numerous substances and physiochemical processes.
Theranostic nanomedicines have emerged as flexible platforms for the development of theranostic nanomedicines with the advent of increasingly complex nanostructures due to the requirement for more personalized treatments. Nanomaterials are ideal for performing both diagnostics and therapy due to their inherent detectability through biomedical imaging techniques, as well as their robust inorganic structures which provide shelter and/or stability for incorporated active molecules. A number of nanomaterials are even capable of performing intrinsic therapeutic actions (for example, phototherapy and anti-inflammatory). However, their application is still limited since such highly sophisticated nanoparticles usually involve complex synthesis processes that complicate their preparation in a safe, sustainable, and industrially feasible way. Besides, drug delivery nanocarriers such as liposomes, micelles, and multilayer core-shell nanoparticles often suffer from the slow release of drugs in complex physiological conditions. Nanocarriers for cancer treatment require high specificity to recognize target cancer cells and automatically release drugs. Nanomaterials as artificial enzymes or nanomedicine for therapeutics have to overcome the biocompatibility and biosafety issues in the human body. The specificity and sensitivity have to be improved when nanomaterials are used for diagnosis. Usually, the surface of nanomaterials is coated with antibodies or aptamers for biomarker recognition and excellent optical or electric properties need to be enhanced. Therefore, the design and synthesis of novel functional nanomaterials require unremitting efforts to improve their performance, expand functions, as well as improve biocompatibility and stability, etc.
In this Research Topic, recent progress about advanced functional nanomaterials for diagnosis, bioimaging, drug delivery, and therapeutics is welcome, either research works or review articles. It is our pleasure to invite professionals from industry and from academic and research institutions from around the world to submit their contributions to this Research Topic.
Nanomaterials have attracted numerous attention due to their unique physical, chemical, electrical, magnetic, and optical properties. With the rapid development of nanomaterial design, synthesis and processing, they have been widely used in optics, batteries, sensors, and electronics to enhance the performance of products. Nanomaterials are being investigated in the simultaneous detection and treatment of cancer, neurological disorders, cardiovascular diseases, and infectious diseases over the past few decades. This is due to their multifunctionality and distinctive nanometric architecture. However, when nanomaterials are applied to disease diagnosis, bioimaging, drug delivery, and therapeutics, much higher standards are required since these health-related areas have numerous substances and physiochemical processes.
Theranostic nanomedicines have emerged as flexible platforms for the development of theranostic nanomedicines with the advent of increasingly complex nanostructures due to the requirement for more personalized treatments. Nanomaterials are ideal for performing both diagnostics and therapy due to their inherent detectability through biomedical imaging techniques, as well as their robust inorganic structures which provide shelter and/or stability for incorporated active molecules. A number of nanomaterials are even capable of performing intrinsic therapeutic actions (for example, phototherapy and anti-inflammatory). However, their application is still limited since such highly sophisticated nanoparticles usually involve complex synthesis processes that complicate their preparation in a safe, sustainable, and industrially feasible way. Besides, drug delivery nanocarriers such as liposomes, micelles, and multilayer core-shell nanoparticles often suffer from the slow release of drugs in complex physiological conditions. Nanocarriers for cancer treatment require high specificity to recognize target cancer cells and automatically release drugs. Nanomaterials as artificial enzymes or nanomedicine for therapeutics have to overcome the biocompatibility and biosafety issues in the human body. The specificity and sensitivity have to be improved when nanomaterials are used for diagnosis. Usually, the surface of nanomaterials is coated with antibodies or aptamers for biomarker recognition and excellent optical or electric properties need to be enhanced. Therefore, the design and synthesis of novel functional nanomaterials require unremitting efforts to improve their performance, expand functions, as well as improve biocompatibility and stability, etc.
In this Research Topic, recent progress about advanced functional nanomaterials for diagnosis, bioimaging, drug delivery, and therapeutics is welcome, either research works or review articles. It is our pleasure to invite professionals from industry and from academic and research institutions from around the world to submit their contributions to this Research Topic.
