NMP 2008
 |
Jayesh Bellare |
Piercy
Visiting Professor |
Nanobioengineering for Health Care
Jayesh R. Bellare
Piercy Visiting Professor, CEMS, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN
55455, and Dept. of Chemical Engineering IIT Bombay, Mumbai – 400
076 India.
Email: jayeshbellare@cems.umn.edu
Human health care products of diagnostic as well
as therapeutic nature arising from nanobioengineering may have the most
significant impact of the
burgeoning field of nanotechnology. In this talk, I will give a broad overview
of several of our ongoing investigations in the area of nanobioenginering
with therapeutic applications as the focus. Drug delivery is one important
area, but the ongoing investigations also cover a wide spectrum, thereby
addressing both fundamental and applied aspects, since a fundamental understanding
of nanoscale behavior is required so as to make an impact on applications
which are sometimes very macroscopic, as in the case of bulk nanomaterials
and devices. The work is highly interdisciplinary in nature and is supported
by a team with a broad range of expertise in both fundamental and applied
areas including surgical and clinical aspects. Among the areas covered are:
Novel surfactants nanoparticles with herbal additives for respiratory disease;
Ophthalmic drug delivery; Nanocomposites for dental and orthodontics use;
Micro-devices for cardiac use; and Nano particles in traditional medicinal
systems (Ayurvedic Bhasmas). The deliverables with health care impact will
include: Nanoparticle and Polymeric anti-cancer drug delivery systems; Neonatal
and adult surfactant therapy product for respiratory distress syndromes;
Eye-drops that reach the posterior chamber of the eye; Tissue-engineered
dental and bone replacement with nano-composites; Bone plates based on nanoparticulate
bioglass; Mechanistic understanding of traditional bioactive nanoparticulates
(bhasmas); and microengineering for minimally invasive surgery. For nanotechnology
fundamentals, we illustrate some recently studied surfactant based nanostructures,
including non equilibrium ones, like myelins, which have unique structures
and a dynamical nature, and ways to visualize them.