Nanomedicine Vol. IIA now available free online

May 3, 2004 | Source: KurzweilAI

The second volume in the Nanomedicine book series by Robert A. Freitas Jr., Nanomedicine, Vol. IIA: Biocompatibility, is now available free online in its entirety.

First published in hardcover by Landes Bioscience in 2003, this comprehensive technical book describes the many possible mechanical, physiological, immunological, cytological, and biochemical responses of the human body to the in vivo introduction of medical nanodevices, especially medical nanorobots.

Such advanced nanodevices could quickly eliminate pathogens and cancer cells, conduct molecular repairs of damaged biological structures, and restore and maintain the body in a state of youthful health, revolutionizing 21st century medicine.

The book addresses:

  • Possible hazards of diamondoid devices or their components
  • Protein interactions with nanorobot surfaces, immunoreactivity, inflammation, coagulation and thrombosis, allergic reactions and shock, fever, mutagenicity and carcinogenicity.
  • Known biocompatibility of diamond, carbon fullerenes and nanotubes, nondiamondoid carbon, fluorinated carbon (e.g., Teflon), sapphire and alumina, and a few other possible nanomedical materials such as DNA and dendrimers – in both bulk and particulate forms.
  • Requirements for intact motile nanorobots that can locomote inside the human body while avoiding geometrical trapping, phagocytosis, and granulomatization, thus achieving controlled or indefinite persistence without clearance by the natural immune system.
  • Mechanical interactions of nanorobotic systems with human skin and other epithelial tissues, including mechanical tissue penetration and perforation leakage, as well as mechanical interactions with vascular systems, extracellular matrix and tissue cells, and nontissue cells such as erythrocytes, platelets, and leukocytes.
  • The degree to which macroscopic objects placed inside the human body can safely displace natural systems volumetrically.

    The book is also available in hardcover at $99 from Amazon.com. It includes 348 pages, 6259 literature references, and an extensive index.