Medicine is becoming ever more sophisticated. The intersection of new medical knowledge and changing population health needs is creating new opportunities and demand for products based on Nanoco’s nanomaterials. Nanoco will play a crucial role in crafting solutions and delivering unique products into the life science research, pharmaceutical development and routine clinical arenas.
Nanoco’s VIVODOTS® nanoparticles represent a new class of material that has the potential to be applied in a range of techniques. Unique in its lack of toxic metals, it can be used for medical and veterinary applications such as diagnostic imaging and phototherapy, and potentially for targeted drug delivery. We have the opportunity to contribute to the development of new perspectives of disease biology, opening up new horizons for disease diagnosis and the tailoring and monitoring of therapeutic interventions, and ultimately impacting health care delivery and quality of life.
Tracing Malign Cells
Working with various universities and research institutions, Nanoco’s scientists are looking into new ways to use nanotechnology to deliver better, more targeted treatment.
In the context of diagnostics, the ability to accurately and sensitively identify the illness or disorder in a patient is crucial. Using quantum dots, conventional in vitro analysis could be augmented or even surpassed with more rapid, easier and less invasive procedures. Rather than surgically removing suspected tumour tissues to send to a laboratory for analysis, VIVODOTS® nanoparticles may enable immediate diagnosis and detection during the surgery, without removal of potentially healthy tissue and without the associated delay to receive results. Most quantum dots cannot be used in this way, owing to their toxic content. But NANOCO quantum dots (VIVODOTS® nanoparticles), being biocompatible and free of toxic elements, can be used harmlessly.
Similarly, VIVODOTS® nanoparticles offer significant improvement over the fluorescent dyes currently injected by surgeons to help guide where exactly to cut. Nanoco’s VIVODOTS® nanoparticles are remarkably bright and overcome the issues associated with the weak luminescence of conventional dyes (low light absorption capacity and poor photo-stability).
In such contexts, care delivery could be streamlined and made more cost-effective and, crucially for the patient, it would ensure that tumour tissue is necessarily removed but healthy tissue is spared.
