MEMSuniverse » delivery http://www.memsuniverse.com A Passion for Creativity & Innovation Tue, 23 Oct 2012 21:57:22 +0000 en-US hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.4.2 Self-Assembling Nanoliter Containers http://www.memsuniverse.com/microfabrication/self-assembling-nanoliter-containers.html http://www.memsuniverse.com/microfabrication/self-assembling-nanoliter-containers.html#comments Wed, 12 Nov 2008 15:42:14 +0000 admin http://www.memsuniverse.com/?p=839 Nanotechnology, the new science of extreme miniaturization, is a rapidly growing field in engineering. On this size scale, it is extremely difficult and expensive to fabricate analogs of macroscale engineering, such as grippers. Drawing inspiration from biological fabrication in nature, engineers are seeking to self-assemble structures from the bottom up. This manufacturing paradigm has been largely unexplored in human engineering since the process is generally perceived to be indeterminable and uncontrollable.

The Gracias Lab at Johns Hopkins has developed a relatively easy, precise, and cost-effective process by which the 2D templates of semi-tethered “faces” can self-assemble into controlled 3D structures by utilizing the natural phenomena of surface tension. This video highlights the development, manufacturing process, and proposed functions (cell encapsulation devices and controlled drug delivery carriers) of our self-assembling nanoliter containers.

Duration : 0:4:11


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]]> http://www.memsuniverse.com/microfabrication/self-assembling-nanoliter-containers.html/feed 0 Nanotechnology and drug delivery http://www.memsuniverse.com/nanotechnology/nanotechnology-and-drug-delivery-2.html http://www.memsuniverse.com/nanotechnology/nanotechnology-and-drug-delivery-2.html#comments Mon, 25 Aug 2008 15:03:19 +0000 admin http://www.memsuniverse.com/?p=697 Approximately 99 per cent of medicinal molecules don’t reach their targets and subsequently, stay in the body of the patient. As these molecules can sometimes be very toxic – particularly in the case of those designed to target cancers – research is being undertaken into more effective ways of safely transporting and delivering drugs.

A challenge for nanotechnology in this research is to create a device which can carry a drug payload to it’s target, be monitored throughout it’s journey and deliver, without being attacked and destroyed by the body’s natural defences. This calls for something which possesses stealth design characteristics and a plausible device is described here in this movie.

This is one of a selection of intriguing movies which are available for free download from the EPSRC Nanotechnology Image Library at : http://www.nanoscience.dept.shef.ac.uk/images/

You may also be interested in navigating to the “Soft Machines” site belonging to Professor Richard Jones – who features in this movie – for up-to-date discourse on all things nano. Here’s the link : http://www.softmachines.org/wordpress/

Duration : 0:3:18


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