Nano Lab Cross Disciplinary Feasibility Account

生物功能背后的复杂机械的运行规模远远小于传统医疗设备。然而，纳米技术的进步首次使我们能够制造尺寸与细胞和亚细胞结构兼容的传感器和电子设备，为诊断和治疗人类疾病打开了新的可能性。纽卡斯尔大学在生物医学和纳米科学研究方面的长期优势使其处于利用这些机会的理想地位，但前提是各学科之间的现有合作能够得到巩固，并建立新的联系。这项提议将通过为工程师、医学科学家和临床医生提供一个论坛来介绍技术、应用和患者需求，并支持对出现的冒险的、新颖的纳米医学项目进行范围研究，从而实现这一目标。我们已经确定了两个初步要研究的项目：纳米级智能卡技术和纳米级神经接口。智能卡(例如芯片卡和个人识别码信用卡)包含通过电磁感应接收电力并进行通信的嵌入式电子电路。原则上，这种技术可以在小于千分之一毫米大小的设备上实现，这些设备可以放置在体内的细胞内，以感知和传递有价值的诊断信息。神经接口与体内的神经细胞进行电子通信，并在治疗神经疾病方面有许多应用，例如作为神经假体来恢复瘫痪患者的运动。然而，这种界面的长期稳定性受到组织对异物的反应的影响，部分原因是脑细胞的规模和植入的导线电极不匹配。通过将纳米线特征结合到这些电极上，我们预计这个问题可以克服。这两个项目都有可能在临床应用方面提供高额回报，但风险很高，因为新的纳米技术尚未在生物学环境中得到证明。这项建议将允许研究人员开展初步的可行性研究，以支持进一步的资助，指导小组的学者来自一系列具有很强跨学科记录的专业。此外，专家小组将评估和分配资源，用于我们讨论论坛中提出的其他纳米医学提案。总体目标是培养一种跨学科互动的文化，使尖端技术能够针对真正的、未得到满足的临床需求。

The complex machinery underlying biological function operates at a scale that is far smaller than traditional medical devices. However, advances in nanotechnologies for the first time allow us to fabricate sensors and electronics with dimensions compatible to cellular and sub-cellular structures, opening new possibilities for diagnosing and treating human disease. Long-standing strengths in biomedical and nanoscience research place Newcastle University in an ideal position to capitalise on these opportunities, but only if existing collaboration between the disciplines can be consolidated and new links forged. This proposal will achieve this by providing a forum for engineers, medical scientists and clinicians to present technologies, applications and patient needs, and to support scoping studies into adventurous, novel nanomedicine projects that emerge. We have identified two projects to be investigated initially: nanoscale smart card technology and nanoscale neural interfaces. Smart cards (for example chip and PIN credit cards) contain embedded electronic circuits that receive power and communicates via electromagnetic induction. In principle, such technology can be implemented in devices less than a thousandth of a millimetre in size, which could be placed inside cells within the body to sense and relay valuable diagnostic information. Neural interfaces communicate electrically with nerve cells in the body and have numerous applications for treating neurological disorders, for example as neural prostheses to restore movement to paralysed patients. However, the long-term stability of such interfaces is compromised by the tissue response to foreign bodies, caused in part by the mismatch in the scale of brain cells and the implanted wire electrodes. By incorporating nanowire features onto these electrodes we anticipate that this problem can be overcome. Both these projects potentially offer a high reward in terms of clinical application, but are high risk because the novel nanotechnologies have yet to be demonstrated in a biological setting. This proposal will allow researchers to carry out preliminary feasibility studies in support of further funding, advised by a steering panel of academics drawn from a range of specialities with strong cross-disciplinary track records. In addition, the panel will assess and allocate resources to other nanomedicine proposals arising out of our discussion forums. The overall aim is to foster a culture of cross-disciplinary interaction, enabling cutting-edge technologies to be targeted to real, unmet clinical needs.