report
5.1.10 Health, Medicine and Nanobio

Nanotechnology has found applications in many industries. Nanomedicine has grown as a discipline in itself and the development of novel structures and advances in nanomaterials are fuelling growth and innovation in the area. The potential of nanotechnology in medicine has been recognised, and a significant amount of funding has been provided to the sector. The number of conferences taking place around the globe on nanotechnology in medicine is an indicator of the interest and potential offered by nanoscience and nanotechnology. The Cancer Nanotechnology Plan by the National Cancer Institute in US and the European Technology Platform Nanomedicine have set out plans for the future research activities needed in the area. A roadmap project which sets out the timeframe for nanomedicine applications has been supported by the European Commission (EC). Several other projects relating to nanomedicine have been funded by the EC 6th and 7th Framework programmes. Many national and pan-European networks also exist, with the aim of bringing together stakeholders to discuss and share information. Nanomednet in the UK, Nanoned in Netherlands, the Spanish nanomedicine platform, CC-NanoBioTech in Germany, and the European Foundation for Clinical Nanomedicine (CLINAM) are examples of such networks which aim to bridge the gap between different groups including scientists, industry, clinicians, investors and policy makers.

This report examines EHS aspects relating to developments in nanomedicine as reported in the ObservatoryNANO technology sector report on Health, Medicine & Nanobio (Moore et al., 2009). That report is subdivided in six subsectors:
• Therapeutics,
• Sensors & Diagnostics,
• Regenerative Medicine,
• Implants Surgery & Coatings,
• Novel Bionanostructures, and
• Cosmetics.
In each of the subsector reviews, key technologies and their descriptions are provided. The state of R&D in that particular area is described and additional demands for research are briefly outlined.

The full text of the Energy Technology Sector EHS Analysis may be downloaded as a pdf from the 'Related Documents' section at the bottom of this page.