RECENT TRENDS IN NANOMEDICINE RESEARCH: A REVIEW ARTICLE

Abstract

Nanomedicine, a term coined in the 1990s by the American engineers Eric Drexler (1955) and Robert Freitas Jr. (1952), can be defined as a complex, multidisciplinary branch of medicine in which nano-technologies, molecular biotechnologies, and other nano-sciences are applied at all stages of disease management, from diagnosis (nano-diagnostics) to treatment (nano-therapeutics), prognosis. Nanomedicine is a rapidly and exponentially growing, relatively young discipline marked by evolving ethical problems and implications. In hundreds of various sub-fields, Nanomedicine has branched out. A sample of 6696 papers was extracted and analyzed from PubMed/MEDLINE. In the period from 2003 to 2020, papers were published showing a growing pattern over time. There were four thematic clusters (first cluster: molecular methods; second cluster: molecular biology and nano-characterization; third cluster: nano-diagnostics and nano-theranostics; fourth cluster: clinical applications, nano-oncology, nano-immunology and nano-vaccinology sub-fields).