Nanotechnology Applications in Vascular Disease

Abstract

The confluence of nanotechnology and medicine: Nanomedicine is poised to revolutionize the delivery of health care to individuals and populations in the 21st century. Every medical specialty stands to be impacted as emerging nanotechnologies propel modalities for prevention, screening, diagnosis, and treatment. Medical interventions targeting vascular disease are becoming increasingly important, given current epidemiologic trends in morbidity and mortality due to these diseases. Vascular disease is a term that encompasses a collection of pathologies that affect the vessels (arteries, veins, and lymphatics) or vasculature in the body. The purpose of this article is to highlight current and emerging nanotechnologies aimed at vascular disease. Select, clinically relevant examples are described in the categories of drugs and drug delivery, imaging, sensors, biomaterials, diagnostics, and novel therapeutics. Several promising nanomedicine applications that target vascular disease are currently under various stages of development from bench top research to clinical trials. Given the rate of investment, promising research results and progression of many products to market nanomedicine applications in the prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of vascular disease holds great promise for improving the stand of care.