Nanomedicine in Ophthalmology: The New Frontier

Am J Ophthalmol 150(2):0 (2010) PMID 20670739

Purpose: To review the fields of nanotechnology and nanomedicine as they relate to the development of treatments for vision-threatening disorders. Design: Perspective following literature review. Methods: Analysis of relevant publications in the peer-reviewed scientific literature. Results: Nanotechnology involves the creation and use of materials and devices at the size scale of intracellular structures and molecules and involves systems and constructs on the order of a new subfield of nanomedicine, uses nanoparticles containing gene transcription factors and other modulating molecules that allow for the reprogramming of cells in vivo. Conclusions: Nanotechnology already has been applied to the measurement and treatment of different disease states in ophthalmology (including early- and late-stage disease), and many additional innovations will occur during the next century.