Nanobiomaterials handbook / edited by Balaji Sitharaman

Includes bibliographical references and index

"The Nanobiomaterials Handbook aims to provide a comprehensive overview of the field of nanobiomaterials with a broad introduction for those who are unfamiliar with the subject and as a useful reference for advanced professionals. Nanobiomaterials are poised to play a central role in nanobiotechnology and make significant contributions to biomedical research and health care. This assessment is based on numerous demonstrations that nanobiomaterials can exhibit distinctive nanoscopic characteristics (e.g., mechanical, electrical, and optical properties) suitable for a variety of biological applications. Advances in nanobiomaterials require a multidisciplinary approach spanning fields in physical sciences (e.g., chemistry), biological sciences (e.g., molecular biology), engineering (e.g., chemical engineering), and medicine with considerable interaction and collaboration among ethicists, regulatory bodies, and industry. The introduction defines the field of nanobiomaterials and discusses its scope, current status, and future prospects. This is followed by an in-depth survey of nanobiomaterials. It also provides a comprehensive overview of the various synthesis and processing techniques important for developing bionanomaterials and explores the unique nanoscopic physicochemical properties of nanobiomaterials. Next, a detailed survey of potential applications of nanobiomaterials is presented. Here the emphasis is on the unique challenges in the design, fabrication, and evaluation of biomaterials for a particular application/field. For instance, key physical properties necessary for developing bionanomaterials for molecular imaging applications are completely different than those for gene therapy"