S. Brito Raj et al. (2012) Int J of Ad Biomed & Pharm Res. 1(1): 43-54.

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International Journal of

Advanced Biomedical & Pharmaceutical Research

An official Journal of Sri Venkateswara College of Pharmacy, Chittoor, A.P., India.

NANOROBOTICS AND THEIR PHARMACEUTICAL APPLICATIONS

S.Brito Raj1*, G.Sravani1, Nara Bhanupriya1, B.Rekha1, P.Sreekanth1, S.Wasim Raja2, and
K.Bhaskar Reddy1
1

Department of Pharmaceutics, Sri Venkateswara College of Pharmacy, R.V.S. Nagar, Chittoor-517127(A.P) India.
Department of Pharmacy Practice, Sri Venkateswara College of Pharmacy, R.V.S. Nagar, Chittoor-517127(A.P) India.

Article Info
Article history
Received: 20/11/2012
Revised: 25/11/2012
Accepted: 28/11/2012
Keywords
Nanoparticles, Nanorobots,
Components, Drug Delivery
Systems, Medical Nanorobots,
Applications

ABSTRACT
The origin of nanotechnology is often associated with the talk given by Nobel Prize
winner Richard Feynman entitled Theres Plenty of Room at the Bottom. In this talk,
Feynman discusses the possibilities (i.e., in principle) of what is now commonly referred to
as nanotechnology and how its advancement could potentially generate an enormous
number of technical applications. Doctors today cant affect molecules in one cell while
leaving identical molecules in a neighboring cell untouched because medicine today cannot
apply surgical control to the molecular level. There are opportunities to design nanosized,
bioresponsive systems able to diagnose and then deliver drugs, and systems able to promote
tissue regeneration and repair (in disease, trauma and aging), circumventing chemotherapy.
The long term goal is the development of novel and revolutionary bimolecular machine
components that can be assembled and form multi-degree-of freedom nano devices that will
apply forces and manipulate objects in the nanoworld, transfer information from the nano to
the macro world, and travel in the nano environment. These machines are expected to be
highly efficient, controllable, economical in mass production, and fully operational with
minimal supervision. The emerging field of medical nanorobotics is aimed at overcoming
these shortcomings. Molecular manufacturing can construct a range of medical instruments
and devices with greater abilities. Ongoing developments in molecular fabrication,
computation, sensors and motors will enable the manufacturing of nanorobots. These are
theoretical nanoscale biomolecular machine systems within a size range of 0.5 to 3 microns
with 1-100 nm parts. Work in this area is still largely theoretical, and no artificial non
biological nanorobots have yet been built. These ultra miniature robotic systems and nanomechanical devices will be the biomolecular electro-mechanical hardware of future
biomedical applications.

INTRODUCTION
Nanotechnology
The origin of nanotechnology is often associated
with the talk given by Nobel Prize winner Richard Feynman
entitled Theres Plenty of Room at the Bottom. In this

talk, Feynman discusses the possibilities (i.e., in principle)

of what is now commonly referred to as nanotechnology and
how its advancement could potentially generate an
enormous number of technical applications.
Nanotechnology
contains
technological
developments on the nanometer scale, usually on the order
of 0.1 to 100 nm. A nanometer is one billionth of a meter (1
nm = 10-9 m). For a perception of this scale at the atomic

Corresponding author

Mr.S.Brito Raj
E-Mail: britosraj@yahoo.co.in

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S. Brito Raj et al. (2012) Int J of Ad Biomed & Pharm Res. 1(1): 43-54.
level, a hydrogen atoms diameter is on the order of an
Angstrom (1 = 0.1 nm). Thus ten hydrogen laid side by
side would measure a distance of about 1 nm across.
Nanotechnology is necessarily a multidisciplinary
field which encompasses and draws from the knowledge of
several diverse technological fields of study including
chemistry, physics, molecular biology, material science,
computer science, and engineering. Advances in the field of
nanotechnology have expanded the breadth of potential
applications tremendously in recent years. The
nanotechnology research and development (R&D) areas
have been growing rapidly throughout the world. Although
its applied use is still limited, nanotechnology has already
begun to appear in various applications and products,
namely nanomaterials. According to information provided
by the National Nanotechnology Initiative (NNI) website,
nanomaterials are being used in a number of industries to
improve product functionality for electronic, magnetic,
optoelectronic, biomedical, pharmaceutical, cosmetic,
energy, catalytic, and materials applications. In addition, it
has been reported that the areas currently create the greatest
revenue are the use of nanoparticles for chemicalmechanical polishing, magnetic recording tapes, sunscreens,
automotive catalysts, biolabeling, electroconductive coatings
and optical fibers. Although still considered to be in its
infancy, breakthroughs in nanotechnology are expected to
facilitate the development of other advanced applications in
nanoelectronics, nanomedicine, nanoelectromechanical
systems (NEMS), nanomaterials (e.g., nano composites) and
nanorobotics.
A great deal of nanotechnology research in the U.S.
comes under the purview of the National Nanotechnology
Initiative (NNI) which provides a framework for
government agencies to collaborate. The NNI focuses on
nine Grand Challenge areas; one of these Grand Challenge
areas targets robotics. It is of particular concern to the
Intelligent Systems and Robotics Center (ISRC) to
determine its role in the growing field of nanotechnology.
Naturally and more specifically, the field of nanorobotics is
the most important topic of interest to the ISRC and is
discussed in greater detail in this report.(Couvreur P et al.,
2006).

a result, nanorobots have for the most part been explored in

the biological context of nanomedicine.
The second area deals with the manipulation and/or
assembly of nanoscale components with macroscale
instruments or robots (i.e., nanomanipulators). Due to the
advances in nanotechnology and its rapidly growing number
of potential applications, it is evident that practical
technologies for the manipulation and assembly of nanoscale
structures into functional nanodevices need to be developed.
Nanomanipulation and nano assembly may also play a
crucial role in the development of artificial nanorobots
themselves. The main goal of this survey is to identify
activities and advancement that have been made in this
relatively new and emerging field (Cavalcanti A and Freitas
RA et al., 2002; Cavalcanti A et al., 2007; Shirinzadeh B et
al., 2007).
Advantages
The process is very fast. Since the scale of
operation is very small, the results are very accurate. The
process is less painful unlike angioplasty, where the patient
takes months to recover from the physical trauma of the
operation. The process is technologically very advanced and
reliable. The patient is not subjected to harmful rays unlike
angioplasty where he is placed below a continuous X-ray
during diagnosis. The chances of any after effects or
recurrences are completely eliminated.
Disadvantages
Nanorobots, the technology as such, may be very
costly. The technology may take several years to be
implemented practically. The technology may lead to further
technological problems like the introduction of artificial
reconstruction and artificial intelligence which will result in
the robots going out of control of humans.
Proposed Design of Nanorobots
The importance of nanosystems design for the
investigation of nanorobots control has broken up recently as
an important aspect for further research. Including aspects of
the physical environment in conjunction with graphical
visualization can provide a possible approach for
Nanorobotics automation and control design. The
nanorobots design is comprised of components such as
molecular sorting rotors and a robot arm (telescoping
manipulating arm) derived from biological models. The
nanorobots exterior shape consists of a diamondoid material,
which may be attached to an artificial glycocalyx surface
which reduces fibrinogen, blood proteins adsorption and
bioactivity, gives sufficient biocompatibility to evade
immune system attack. Types of different molecules are
distinguished by a sequence of chemo tactic sensors whose
binding sites have a different affinity for each kind of
molecule. The Nanorobot Control Design (NCD) simulator
are used for the 3D investigation of a stenosed left anterior
descending (LAD) coronary artery, in which we optimize
the trigger for medical nanorobots. This trigger will turn the
nanomachine on, switching it from seek mode to repair

Nanorobotics
Nanorobotics, sometimes referred to as molecular
robotics, is an emerging research area as evidenced by recent
topics in the literature. In general, nanorobotics carries a
variety of definitions throughout the literature. The field of
nanorobotics can be generally divided into two main focus
areas. The first area deals with the design, simulation,
control, and coordination of robots with nanoscale
dimensions (i.e., nanorobots). Nanorobots, nanomachines,
and other nanosystems are objects with overall dimensions
at or below the micrometer range and are made of
assemblies of nanoscale components with individual
dimensions ranging approximately between 1 to 100 nm. As

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mode. It might also cause other close nanorobots switch to
a higher awareness mode. Regarding knowledge about the
general localization of the stenosis (in large, small or micro
vessels), we may inject the suitable type of nanorobot ,
which is pre-programmed to be activated only at the prespecified target area. The NCD simulator consists of
numerous modules that simulate the physical conditions, run
the nanorobot control programs shaping their actions, deliver
a visual display of the environment in 3D, and trace the
history of nanorobot behaviors for later analysis. (Freitas
RA, 2005).

nanorobots implies nanorobots made up of bio components.

The bio components offer immense variety and functionality
at a scale where creating a man made material with such
capabilities would be extremely difficult. Biocomponents
seem to be logical choice for designing nanorobots. The core
applications of nanorobots in the medical field and using
Biocomponents for these applications seem to be good
choice as they both offer efficiency and variety of
functionality.
Nanorobotics is a field which entitle for
collaborative efforts between chemists, biologists,
physicists, engineers, computer scientists and other
specialists to work towards this universal objective. Fig. 1
details about the various fields which come under the bio
nanorobotics. (Ignatyev MB, 2010).

Designing of Biological Nanorobot

Biological nanorobots which are made of biological
components, such as proteins, DNAs. Designing of bio

Figure 1. Various Fields Which Come Under the Field of Bio Nanorobotics

Immunoliposomes are liposomes conjugated along

with an antibody and aimed towards the tumour antigen.
Immunoliposomes when injected into the body, targets the
tissue and gets accumulated in its specific site of action. This
decreases unwanted effects and also increases the drug
delivery to the target tissue, so that it enhancing its safety
and efficacy. Antibody directed enzyme prodrug therapy
(ADEPT) consists of liposomes conjugated with an enzyme
to activate a prodrug and an antibody which target to a

NANO MATERIALS AND NANO DEVICES

Liposomes
Liposomes discovered in mid 1960s were the
original models of nanoscaled drug delivery devices. They
can be used as effective drug delivery systems. Cancer
chemotherapeutic is used as liposomal drugs produce much
better efficacy and safety as compared to conventional
preparations.

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application of pharmacogenomics in drug development

process (Deamer DW et al., 2000).

tumour antigen. These are administered previous to

administration of a prodrug. Antibody directs the enzyme to
the target tissue where it triggers the prodrug selectively and
changes it to its active form. By this distribution of drug is
avoided to the other normal tissues, thus reducing the
toxicity of drug (Kirby C and Gregoriadis G, 1983).

Fullerenes
Fullerenes are being inspected for drug transport
of antibiotics, anticancer agents and antiviral drugs.
Fullerenes are used as free radical scavengers due to
existence of high number of conjugated double bonds in the
core structure, which are found to have a protective activity
against mitochondrial injury induced by free radicals.
Fullerenes can also produce reactive oxygen species during
photosensitization which can be used in cancer therapy
(Thakral S and Mehta RM, 2006).

Tumor Targeting Immunoliposomes

This method utilizes a tumor targeting antibody
attached to the surface of liposomes incorporating the cancer
drug. The surface of the immunoliposomes are also coated
with a special chemical called polyethylene glycol (PEG)
that protects them from being destroyed by the liver. The
immunoliposomes are also made to be a certain size (about
100 nanometers) that makes them too large to pass thru the
pores of normal blood vessels but small enough to pass thru
the leaky blood vessels supplying the tumor. Once the
immunoliposomes enter the tumor tissue the antitumor
antibody binds to tumor antigens and fixes the
immunoliposomes inside the tumor. In this way a high
percentage of the immunoliposomes becomes concentrated
within the tumor. The liposomes then break down releasing
the cancer drug that will kill the surrounding tumor cells.
The end result is that a high proportion of the cancer drug
reaches the tumor for maximum effect and fewer drugs
reaches normal tissues to cause harmful side-effects.
The company proposes to formulate immunoliposomes
utilizing its tumor targeting antibodies. For example, the
HER 2 antibody is attached to immunoliposomes
incorporating the cancer drug paclitaxel and used to treat
breast cancers; and/or the anti tumor targeting antinuclear
antibody is attached to immunoliposomes incorporating
either the cancer drug paclitaxel or etoposide and used to
treat a variety of solid tumors (Kirby C and Gregoriadis G,
1983).

Nanotubes
Carbon nanotubes discovered in 1991 are tubular
structures like a sheet of graphite rolled into a cylinder
capped at one or both ends by a buckyball. Carbon
nanotubes can be made more soluble by incorporation of
carboxylic or ammonium groups to their structure and can
be used for the transport of nucleic acids , peptides and other
drug molecules. Indium-111 radionuclide labeled carbon
nanotubes are being investigated for killing cancer cells
selectively. (Tarakanov AO et al., (2009).
Amphotericin B nanotubes has shown increased
drug delivery to the interior of cells and a great efficacy as
an anti-fungal agent compared to amphotericin B
administration without nanotubes.The ability of nanotubes to
transport DNA across cell membrane is used in studies
involving gene therapy. It was found that carbon nanotubes,
excluding acetylated ones, bonded with a peptide produce a
higher immunological response compared to free peptides.
so it can be used in vaccine production to improve the
efficacy of vaccines (McDevitt MR et al., 2007).
Quantum Dots
Quantum dots are nanocrystals measuring about 210 nm which can be made to fluorescence when exposed by
light. Quantum dots are used for biomedical purposes as a
diagnostic and therapeutic tool. These can be attached with
biomolecules, so that it can use as highly sensitive probes.
Studies done on prostate cancer in nude mice has shown
accumulation of quantum dots probe by increased
permeability and retention as well as by antibody directed
targeting. It can also used for imaging of sentinel node in
cancer patients for planning of therapy and tumour staging.
This method can be adopted for various malignancies like
breast, melanoma, gastrointestinal and lung tumours.
The application of quantum dots in a clinical setting
has limitations due to its elimination factors. The working of
the quantum dots which Protects from the toxic core, leads
to enhance in size of the nanoparticle more than the pore
size of renal capillaries and endothelium, so it reduces its
elimination and resulting in toxicity. (Rapoport N et al.,
2007).

Nano Pores
A nanopore contains wafers with high density of
pores with size 20 nm in diameter. The pores allow oxygen,
glucose, insulin to pass through. It does not allow
immunoglobulin and cells to pass through them. Nanopores
can be used to protect transplanted tissues from the host
immune system. cells of pancreas was enclosed inside the
nanopore device and implanted into the recipients body.
This tissue sample gets the nutrients from the surrounding
tissues and at the same time it remains not detected by the
immune system and so it will not get rejected. This could
provide as a newer modality of treatment for insulin
dependent diabetes mellitus. Nanopores have the ability to
distinguish DNA strands based on base pair sequences,
purines and pyrimidines. Electricity conducting electrodes is
being designed to improve longitudinal resolution for base
pair identification which could possibly read a thousand
bases per second per pore. It cost low with high throughput
genome sequencing which would be of great advantage for

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benefit over conventional drugs i.e., it is safer without the

adverse effects of cancer chemotherapy drugs and also the
absence of development of drug resistance. Nanosomes are
being developed to integrate more and more components in
it for flexibility of its applications. (Yarin AL, 2010).

Nanoshells
Nanoshells consist of nanoparticles with a core of
silica which is coated with a thin metallic shell. These
nanoshells can be targeted to desired tissue by
immunological methods. This technology is being studied
for cancer therapy. Nanoshells are at present being
investigated for treatment of diabetes and also for micro
metastasis of tumours. Nanoshells are used to diagnostic
purposes in whole blood immunoassays. Gold nanoshells are
coupled along with antibodies and the size can be changed
so that it responds to NIR wavelength, which has the
capacity to penetrate whole blood specimens. So that it is
possible to detect immunoglobulins at a concentration range
of nanograms per milliliter in plasma and whole blood.
(Prato M et al., 2008)

Dendrimers
Dendrimers are nanomolecules with regular
branching structures. The number of branching determines
the size of the dendrimer which can be controlled.
Tectodendrimers are complexes of dendrimers, with each
dendrimer module of the complex performing different
functions such as targeting, diagnosis of disease state,
delivery of drug and imaging. This extended nanodevice has
potential applications in cancer chemotherapy as a mode of
targeted drug therapy.
Dendrimers can be used for gene therapy where
these can replace conventional viral vectors. The advantage
of dendrimer based therapy is absence of stimulation of
immune reaction. Dendrimers can also be used in treatment
of cancer by conjugating with anti-cancer drugs like
cisplatin, Adriamycin or methotrexate .The toxicity of
dendrimer is dependent on the size of the particle and
increase with size. It can be reduced by means of surface
modification of the dendrimers with incorporation of PEG or
fatty acids (Pan B et al., 2007).

Nanobubbles
Cancer therapeutic drugs can be incorporated in a
nanoscaled bubble like structures called as nanobubbles.
Nanobubbles remain stable at room temperature when it is
heated to physiological temperature within the body
coalesce to form microbubbles. The advantages of
Nanobubbles are targeting the tumour tissue and deliver the
drug selectively under the control of ultrasound exposure. It
provides an advantage of enabling visualization of the
tumour by means of ultrasound methods.
Nanobubbles along with ultrasound exposure have
shown increased transfer of gene in both in vitro, in vivo
studies. Nanobubbles are also used as a therapeutic measure
for removal of clot in vascular system in combination with
ultrasound, which is called as sonothrombolysis.
sonothrombolysis has advantages of being causing less
damage to endothelium and noninvasive. (Pathak A et al.,
2008).

Respirocytes
Respirocytes are hypothetical artificial red blood
cells are nanodevices which can function as red blood cells
but with greater efficacy. These have higher capacity to
deliver oxygen to tissues, supplying 236 times more oxygen
per unit volume than natural red blood cells. An infusion of
one litre dose of 50 per cent Respirocytes saline suspension
in a human can theoretically keep the patient oxygenated up
to four hours following cardiac arrest. (Murphy D et al.,
2007).
Figure 2. Respirocytes

Paramagnetic Nanoparticles
Paramagnetic nanoparticles are used as both
diagnostic and therapeutic purposes. First of all
diagnostically, paramagnetic iron oxide nanoparticles are
used as distinct agents in magnetic resonance imaging.
These targeted nanoparticles facilitate identification of
specific organs and tissues. Magnetic microparticles probes
with nanoparticle probes have been used for identification or
detection of proteins like prostate specific antigen. Magnetic
Nanopores are used in cancer therapy and also as diagnostic
tool in cancers. Iron nanoparticles coated with monoclonal
antibodies targeted to tumour cells are used to generate high
levels of heat which kills the cancer cells effectively by
accumulation of these nanoparticles in their target site by
means of an externally applied alternating magnetic field.
(Wang J, 2009).

Microbivores
Microbivores are hypothetical structures which
function as white blood cells in the blood stream designed to
trap circulating microbes. They are expected to have greater
efficacy than cellular blood cells in phagocytosis.

Nanosomes
Nanosomes can be integrated with a photo catalyst
which generate reactive oxygen species when stimulated by
light and so that it destroys the target tissue. This method has

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each other's way. The second consideration is we have to get

it into the body without being too destructive in the first
place. This requires that we gain access to a large diameter
artery that can be traversed easily to gain access to most
areas of the body in minimal time. The obvious candidate is
the femoral artery in the leg. This is in fact the normal
access point to the circulatory system for operations that
require access to the bloodstream for catheters, dye
injections, etc., so it will suit our purposes. Move the device
around the body We start with a basic assumption: that we
will use the circulatory system to allow our device to move
about. We must then consider two possibilities: (a) carried to
the site of operations (b) to be propelled. The first possibility
is to allow the device to be carried to the site of operations
by means of normal blood flow. There are a number of
requirements for this method. We must be able to navigate
the bloodstream; to be able to guide the device so as to make
use of the blood flow. This also requires that there be an
uninterrupted blood flow to the site of operations. In the case
of tumors, there is very often damage to the circulatory
system that would prevent our device from passively
navigating to the site. In the case of blood clots, of course,
the flow of blood is dammed and thus our device would not
be carried to the site without the capability for active
movement. Another problem with this method is that it
would be difficult to remain at the site without some means
of maintaining position, either by means of an anchoring
technique, or by actively moving against the current.
Nanomedicine can make possible the re-engineering of the
human body, including the improvement of existing natural
biological systems and the addition of new systems and
capabilities not found in nature. Such re-engineering is
commonly called "augmentation" (Kirby C and Gregoriadis
G, 1983; Freitas RA, 2005a).

Application of the microbivores in human circulation could

theoretically clear the blood stream in septicaemia at a much
greater rate than the natural defence mechanism with
antibiotics (Freitas Jr RA, 2005b).
Figure 3. Microbivores

CONTROL OF NANOROBOTIC SYSTEMS

The control of nano robotic systems could be
classified in two categories:
i. Internal control mechanisms
ii. External control mechanisms
Nanomedicne
It is the application of nanotechnology (engineering
of tiny machines) to the prevention and treatment of disease
in the human bodies. More specifically, it is the use of
engineered nanodevices and nanostructures to monitor,
repair, construct and control the human biological system on
a molecular level. The most elementary of nanomedical
devices will be used in the diagnosis of illnesses. A more
advanced use of nanotechnology might involve implanted
devices to dispense drugs or hormones as needed in people
with chronic imbalance or deficiency states. Lastly, the most
advanced nanomedicine involves the use of Nanorobots as
miniature surgeons. Such machines might repair damaged
cells, or get inside cells and replace or assist damaged
intracellular structures. At the extreme, nanomachines might
replicate themselves, or correct genetic deficiencies by
altering or replacing DNA (deoxyribonucleic acid)
molecules. Introduce the device into the body. It is a need to
find a way of introducing the nanomachine into the body,
and allowing it access to the operations site without causing
too much ancillary damage. The first is that the size of the
nanomachine determines the minimum size of the blood
vessel that it can traverse. We want to avoid damaging the
walls of whatever blood vessel the device is in, we also do
not want to block it much, which would either cause a clot to
form, or just slow or stop the blood flow. What this means is
that the smaller the nanomachine the better. However, this
must be balanced against the fact that the larger the
nanomachine the more versatile and effective it can be. This
is especially important in light of the fact that external
control problems become much more difficult if we are
trying to use multiple machines, even if they don't get in

Figure 4. Implanted Nanocomputers Interface with the

Myriad Synapses of the Neurons of the Brain

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kidney stones (Murphy D et al., 2006; Cavalcanti A et al.,

2007).

APPLICATIONS OF NANOROBOTS
Tumors
We must be able to treat tumors; that is to say, cells
grouped in a clumped mass. While the technique may
eventually be used to treat small numbers of cells in lung
tumor the bloodstream, the specified goal is to be able to
destroy tumors tissue in such a way as to minimize the risk
of causing or allowing a recurrence of the growth in the
body. The technique is intended to be able to treat tumors
that cannot be accessed via conventional surgery, such as
deep brain (Wang J, 2009).

Liver Stones
Liver stones accumulate in the bile duct. Micro
robots of the above type can be introduced into the bile duct
and used to Stone inside Liver Bile Ducts Break up the liver
stones as well. By continuing on up the bile duct into the
liver, they can clear away accumulated deposits of unwanted
minerals and other substances as well.
Burn and Wound Debriding
The micro robots can also be used to clean wounds
and burns. Their size allows them to be very useful for
removing dirt and foreign particles from incised and
punctured wounds, as well as from burns. They can be used
to do a more complete and less traumatic job than
conventional techniques.

Arteriosclerosis
This is caused by fatty deposits on the walls of
arteries. The device should be able to remove it from the
artery walls. This will allow for both improving the
flexibility of the walls of the arteries and improving the
blood flow through them. In view of the years it takes to
accumulate these deposits, simply removing them from the
artery walls and leaving them in the bloodstream should
allow the bodys natural processes to remove the
overwhelming preponderance of material (Cavalcanti A et
al., 2002).

Remove Tar in Lungs

They could be very useful for the treatment of dirty
lungs. This could be done by removing particles of tar and
other pollutants from the surface of the alveoli, and placing
them where the natural processes of the body can dispose of
them. This would require a micro robot capable of moving
within the lungs, on alveolar surfaces as well as break down of
tar over the mucus layer and over the cilia within the lungs.
(Narayan RJ et al., 2004).

Figure 5. Nanorobots Recovering Arteriosclerosis

Aging
DNA repair machines can repair or replace damaged
or miscoded sections of chromosomes. Other medical
nanorobots capable of cell repair can purge human tissue cells
of unhealthy accumulated detritus and restore these cells to
their youthful vigor. (Patel GM et al., 2010).
Figure 6. Nanorobots Reparing Damaged Cells
Blood Clots
The cause damage when they travel to the
bloodstream to a point where they can block the flow of
blood to vital area of the body. This can result in damage to
vital organs in very short order. In many if not most cases,
these blood clots are only detected when they cause a
blockage and damage the organ in question, often but not
always the brain. By using a micro robot in the body to
break up such clots into smaller pieces before they have a
chance to break free and move on their own (Freitas Jr RA,
1998).
Kidney Stones
By introducing a micro robot into the urethra in a
manner similar to that of inserting a catheter, direct access to
the kidney stones can be obtained, and they can be broken
up directly. This can be done either by means of ultrasonic
directly applied, or by the use of a laser or other means of
applying in intense local heat to cause the stones to break up

Artificial Blood and Respiration

Medical nanorobots can be employed as artificial
oxygen carriers in the blood, thus assisting and extending
normal human respiratory capacities. Hundreds of inhaled
nanorobots rush through a large bronchial junction on their
way deeper into the lungs as the patient takes a deep breath.

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Role in Skin
To cure skin diseases, a cream containing
nanorobots may be used. It could remove the right amount
of dead skin, remove excess oils, add missing oils, apply the
right amounts of natural moisturizing compounds, and even
achieve the elusive goal of deep pore cleaning by actually
reaching down into pores and cleaning them out. The cream
could be a smart material with smooth-on, peel-off
convenience.

Figure 7. Inhaled Nanorobotics

Cleaning Wounds
Nanorobots could help remove debris from wounds,
decreasing the likelihood of infection. They would be
particularly useful in cases of puncture wounds, where it
might be difficult to treat using more conventional methods.

Drug Delivery
Nanotechnology provides a wide range of new
technologies for developing customized solutions that
optimize the delivery of pharmaceutical products. To be
therapeutically effective, drugs need to be protected during
their transit to the target action site in the body while
maintaining their biological and chemicals properties. Some
drugs are highly toxic and can cause harsh side effects and
reduced therapeutic effect if they decompose during their
delivery. Depending on where the drugs will be absorbed
(i.e. colon, small intestine, etc), and whether certain natural
defense mechanisms need to be passed through such as the
blood-brain barrier, the transit time and delivery challenges
can be greatly different (Yarin AL, 2010). Once drug anivies at its destination, it needs to be released at an
appropriate rate for it to be effective. If the drug is released
too rapidly it might not be completely absorbed, or it might
cause gastro-intestinal irritation and other side effects. The
drug delivery system must positively impact the rate of
absorption, distribution, metabolism, and excretion of the
drug or other substances in the body. In addition, the drug
delivery system must allow the drug to bind to its target
receptor and influence that receptors signaling and action,
as well as other drugs, which might also be active in the
body. Drug delivery systems also have severe restrictions on
the materials and production processes that can be used. The
drug delivery material must be compatible and bind easily
with the drug, and be bioresorbable (i.e. degrade into
fragments after use which are either metabolized or
eliminated via normal excretory routes). The production
process must respect stringent conditions on processing and
chemistry that wont degrade the drug, and still provide a
cost effective product (Pathak A et al., 2008, Patel GM et
al., 2010).

In Diagnosis and Biopsy

Nanorobots assist in diagnosis and biopsy. They
travel through bloodstream or tissues all over the body
searching out infections, damaged organs, tumours, blocked
blood vessels or cancer cells. When they locate any
unwanted deposits or damaged organs, nanorobots take
action to remove those deposits and repair damaged organs.
Dental Applications
Nanorobots can be used for preventive/restorative
&curative procedures. Dental nanorobots induce oral
analgesia, desensitize teeth, manipulate the tissues to realign and straighten malaligned teeth (orthodontic
nanorobots). (Khosla R, 2009; Freitas Jr RA, 2000)
Figure 9. Nanorobotics in Dental Application

Maintenance of Oral Hygiene

A mouthwash full of smart nanomachines could
identify and destroy pathogenic bacteria while allowing the
harmless flora of the mouth to flourish in a healthy
ecosystem. Further, the devices would identify particles of
food, plaque, or tartar, and lift them from teeth to be rinsed
away. Being suspended in liquid and able to swim about,
devices would be able to reach surfaces beyond reach of
toothbrush bristles or the fibres of floss. Subocclusally
dwelling nanorobots delivered by dentifrice patrol all supragingival and sub-gingival surfaces metabolizing trapped
organic matter performing continues calculus debridement.

Figure 8. Nanorobots Drug Delivery

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S. Brito Raj et al. (2012) Int J of Ad Biomed & Pharm Res. 1(1): 43-54.
the patients gingiva. After contacting the surface of the
crown or mucosa ,the ambulating nanorobots reach dentin
by migrating into the gingival sulcus and pass painlessly
through the lamina propria or through 1 to 3 microns thick
layer of loose tissue at the CEJ. Upon reaching the dentin
they enter the dentinal tubules up to 1to4 microns depth and
proceed towards the pulp guided by a combination of
chemical gradient, temperature differentials and positional
navigation under nanocomputer control. Thus the migration
of nanorobots from tooth surface to the pulp occurs in 100
sec. once installed in the pulp, they establish control over
nerve impulse, and analgesic nanorobots commanded by the
dentist shut down all sensitivity in any particular tooth
requiring treatment. When the dentist presses the hand held
control, the selected tooth is immediately anesthetized. After
the procedure is completed the dentist orders the nanorobots
to restore all sensation and egress from the tooth. Nanorobot
analgesia offers great patient comfort, reduces anxiety, no
needles, greater selectivity, controllability of analgesic
effect; fasten completely reversible action; avoidance of side
effects and complications.

They prevent tooth decay and provide a continuous barrier

to halitosis. As short-lifetime medical nanodevices, they
could be built to last only a few minutes in the body before
falling apart into materials of the sort found in foods (such
as fibre).
Cavity Preparation and Restoration
Multiple nanorobots working on the teeth in unison,
invisible to the naked eye, may be used for cavity
preparation and restoration of teeth. The cavity preparation
is very precisely restricted to the de-mineralized enamel and
dentin, thus providing maximum conservation of sound
tooth structure. (Freitas Jr RA, 2000)
Dentin Hyper Sensitivity
Dentin hyper sensitivity is a pathological
phenomenon caused by pressure transmitted hydro
dynamically to the pulp. Reconstructive dental nanorobots
selectively and precisely occlude specific dentinal tubules
within minutes, offering patients a quick and permanent cure
from hypersensitivity (Schleyer TL, 2000)

Role in Surgery
Nanorobots could also be programmed to perform
delicate surgeries; such nanosurgeons could work at a level a
thousand times more precise than the sharpest scalpel. By
working on such a small scale, a nanorobot could operate
without leaving the scars that conventional surgery does.
Additionally, nanorobots could change your physical
appearance. They could be programmed to perform cosmetic
surgery, rearranging your atoms to change your ears, nose,
eye color or any other physical feature you wish to alter.
(Yarin AL, 2010).
The use of nanorobots in surgery has provided
additional tools for surgeons with unprecedented control
over precision instruments, useful for minimally invasive
surgery. Instead of manipulating surgical instruments,
surgeons use joy stick handles to control robot arms
containing miniature instruments to perform micro
movements in cell surgery.
A Surgical nanorobot, programmed by a human
surgeon, could act as an autonomous on-site surgeon inside
the human body. Various functions such as searching for
pathology, diagnosis and removal or correction of the lesion
by nanomanipulation can be performed and coordinated by
an on-board computer (Li WJ et al., 2004).

Esthetic Dentistry
They are used for dentition re-neutralization
procedures in esthetic dentistry. They excavate old amalgam
restorations and remanufacture teeth with biological
materials, indistinguishable from original teeth (Schleyer
TL, 2000)
Tooth repair and repositioning
Nanodental techniques involve genetic engineering,
tissue engineering, and tissue regeneration procedures for
major tooth repair. Nanorobots provide complete dentition
replacement therapy including both mineral and cellular
components. Orthodontic nanorobots can directly
manipulate the periodontal tissue, including gingival,
periodontal ligament cementum and alveolar bone allowing
rapid and pain less tooth straitening, rotation and vertical
repositioning within minutes hours (Khosla R, 2009)
Figure 10. Nanorobots in Repositioning Tooth

Helping the body clot

One particular kind of nanorobot is the clottocyte,
or artificial platelet. The clottocyte carries a small mesh net
that dissolves into a sticky membrane upon contact with
blood plasma. Clotting could be up to 1,000 times faster than
the body's natural clotting mechanism. Doctors could use
clottocytes to treat hemophiliacs or patients with serious
open wounds. (Yarin AL, 2010).

Inducing Anesthesia
A colloidal suspension containing millions of active
analgesic micron size dental nanorobots will be installed on

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Acting against Inflammatory Conditions

An interesting utilization of nanorobots may be
their attachment to transmigrating inflammatory cells or
white blood cells, to reach inflamed tissues and assist in
their healing process. Thus they protect the body against
harmful pathogens.

Figure 11. Nanorobots in Body Clot

In HIV
A similar approach like chemotherapy could be
taken enable nanorobots to deliver Anti-HIV drugs. Such
drug delivery nanorobots have been termed pharmacytes.
In Chemotherapy
The most useful application of nanorobots in
medicine was to identify cancer cells and destroy them.
Nanorobots can be applied in chemotherapy to combat
cancer through precise chemical dosage administration.
Doctors hope to use nanorobots to treat cancer patients. The
robots could either attack tumors directly using lasers,
microwaves or ultrasonic signals or they could be part of a
chemotherapy treatment, delivering medication directly to
the cancer site. Doctors believe that by delivering small but
precise doses of medication to the patient, side effects will
be minimized without a loss in the medication's
effectiveness (Wang J et al., 2011).

Parasite Removal
Nanorobots could wage micro-war on bacteria and
small parasitic organisms inside a patient. It might take
several nanorobots working together to destroy all the
parasites.
Figure 12. Nanorobots Used In Blood Cell to Detect
Pathogens

Figure 13. Nanorobots In Chemotherapy

Role in Diabetes
Medical nanorobots monitor diabetes by controlling
nutrient concentrations in human body including blood
glucose levels in diabetic patients. Patients with diabetes
must take small blood samples many times a day to control
glucose levels. Such procedures are uncomfortable and
extremely inconvenient. Serious problems may affect the
blood vessels if the correct target levels of glucose in the
blood are not controlled appropriately. The level of sugar in
the body can be observed via constant glucose monitoring
using medical nanorobotics. This important data may help
doctors and specialists to supervise and improve the patient
medication and diary diet.

Chromosome Replacement Theraphy

This Section describes a sequence of events likely
to occur during a typical chromallocyte mission in which all
cells in a specific organ inside the human body have their
chromosomes replaced with new genetic material. In this
procedure, the patient is scanned and prepped while a dose
of personalized therapeutic chromallocytes is manufactured.
After infusion into the patient, these mobile cell-repair
nanorobots perform limited vascular surface travel into the
capillary bed of the targeted tissue or organ. This is followed
by extravasation, histonatation, cytopenetration, and
complete chromatin replacement in the nucleus of the target
cell, ending with a return to the bloodstream via the same
route and subsequent extraction of the devices from the body
at the original infusion site. (Wang J, 2009).

Gout
Gout is a condition where the kidneys lose the
ability to remove waste from the breakdown of fats from the
bloodstream. This waste sometimes crystallizes at points
near joints like the knees and ankles. People who suffer from
gout experience intense pain at these joints. A nanorobot
could break up the crystalline structures at the joints,
providing relief from the symptoms, though it wouldn't be
able to reverse the condition permanently.

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S. Brito Raj et al. (2012) Int J of Ad Biomed & Pharm Res. 1(1): 43-54.
Treating disorders in reproductive systems Medical
Nanorobot
Computer artwork of a medical nanorobot holding
a sperm cell. Microscopic robot technology could be
developed in the future to treat disorders, such as infertility,
in new ways. This machine has identified a suitable sperm
cell. (Mataric M, 1992)

CONCLUSION
The approach presented in this paper, of combining
a precise physical simulation to establish the environment in
which nanorobots would inhabit, with a nanorobot control
design simulator capable of modeling behavior and used for
optimizing performance, has been shown to be of an extreme
potential for exploration of techniques, strategies ,and
nanorobot mobility considerations. The work is intended to
serve as a practical framework for investigating designs and
models of medical nanorobots, with an application to the
case of establishing a trigger and control criteria for the
treatment of stenosed blood vessels having been successfully
demonstrated. Future work may include addition of a
statistical and operational research envelope for evaluating
large-scale performance, simulations of new environments
and nanorobot designs. We strongly believe that the merging
of the new technologies into operational nanomachines will
go hand in hand with simulation ideality.

Figure 13. Nanorobots Carrying Sperms

The authors report no conflicts of interest. The

authors alone are responsible for the content and writing of
the paper.

Nubots
Scientific field has given new type of robots to the
world which are known as nubots.Nubot is the abbreviation
of nucleic Acid Robots. These devices are operated at
nanoscale and are highly beneficial for demonstrating the
DNA test and blood cell detection. (Yarin AL, 2010; Li WJ
et al., 2004)

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
We thank Dr. Ravuri Venkataswamy, Chairman
and Mr. R.V.Srinivas, Vice Chairman, Sri Venkateswara
Group of Educational Institutions, R.V.S.Nagar, Chittoor,
Andhra Pradesh, India for providing facilities to carry out
this review work.

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