Role of Nanofluids in Drug Delivery and Biomedical Technology: Methods and Applications

Abstract

Recently, suspensions of several nanoparticles or nanocomposites have attained a vast field of application in biomedical research works in some specified conditions and clinical trials. These valuable suspensions, which allow the nanoparticles to disperse and act in homogenous and stable media, are named as nanofluids. Several studies have introduced the advantages of nanofluids in biomedical approaches in different fields. Few review articles have been reported for presenting an overview of the wide biomedical applications of nanofluids, such as diagnosis and therapy. The review is focused on nanosuspensions, as the nanofluids with solid particles. Major applications are focused on nanosuspension, which is the main type of nanofluids. So, concise content about major biomedical applications of nanofluids in drug delivery systems, imaging, and antibacterial activities is presented in this paper. For example, applying magnetic nanofluid systems is an important route for targeted drug delivery, hyperthermia, and differential diagnosis. Also, nanofluids could be used as a potential antibacterial agent to overcome antibiotic resistance. This study could be useful for presenting the novel and applicable methods for success in current medical practice.

Keywords: antibiotic resistance; biomedical applications; diagnosis; drug delivery; nanofluid; therapy.

Figure 1

Nano delivery system with eight micro-channels Note: Reprinted from Publication International Journal of Heat and Mass Transfer, 51(23), Kleinstreuer C, Li J, Koo J, Microfluidics of nano-drug delivery, 5590–5597, Copyright (2008), with permission from Elsevier.

Figure 2

Depiction of magnetic PLGA hollow microsphere response in altering the magnetic field. Note: Reprinted from Publication Colloids and Surfaces B: Biointerfaces, 136, Fang K, Song L, Gu Z, et al, Magnetic field activated drug release system based on magnetic PLGA microspheres for chemo-thermal therapy, 712–720, Copyright (2015), with permission from Elsevier.

Figure 3

Magnetic contrast effect of magnetic nanoparticles in water, magnetic field results in darker magnetic resonance image. Note: Reprinted from Materials Science and Engineering: C, 33(8), Shokrollahi H, Contrast agents for MRI, 4485–4497, Copyright (2013), with permission from Elsevier.

Figure 4

The results of trimetallic Au/Pt/Ag-based nanofluid treatment for an enhanced antibacterial response; “A,” “B” and “C” in the agar plates correspond to Au, Au/Pt and Au/Pt/Ag nanofluid, respectively. Note: Reprinted from Materials Chemistry and Physics, 218, Yadav N, Jaiswal AK, Dey KK, et al., Trimetallic Au/Pt/Ag based nanofluid for enhanced antibacterial response, 10–17, Copyright (2018), with permission from Elsevier.

Figure 5

Fluorescence micrographs display high levels of staining for the surface glycoprotein SSEA-1 (A) and Oct-4 transcriptional activity, as denoted by GFP expression (B). (C) The merged view of the red and green channels indicates extensive co-expression of the two markers and DAPI nuclei staining (blue). Phase-contrast image shows cells with a high nuclei/cytoplasm ratio and compact colony formation typical of pluripotent ES cells (D). Histochemical staining shows the strong expression for alkaline phosphatase at 10× magnification (E), which was seen to be well distributed within each colony as observed at a lower 4× magnification (F). Note: Reprinted from Cryobiology, 56(3), He X, Park EYH, Fowler A, et al., Vitrification by ultra-fast cooling at a low concentration of cryoprotectants in a quartz micro-capillary: A study using murine embryonic stem cells, 223–232, Copyright (2008), with permission from Elsevier.