Carbon Nanotubes as Drug Delivery Vehicles

Various biomedical applications of nanomaterials have been proposed in the last few years leading to the emergence of a new field in diagnostics and therapeutics. Most of these applications involve the administration of nanoparticles into patients. Carbon Nanotubes are enjoying increasing popularity as building blocks for novel drug delivery systems as well as for bioimaging and biosensing. The recent strategies to functionalize carbon nanotubes have resulted in the generation of biocompatible and water-soluble carbon nanotubes that are well suited for high treatment efficacy and minimum side effects for future cancer therapies with low drug doses. The toxicological profile of such carbon nanotube systems developed as nanomedicines will have to be determined prior to any clinical studies undertaken.