Nanomaterials for Biomedical Applications

Dear colleagues,

We would like to invite you to contribute a short communication, full article, or review to this Special Issue, entitled “Nanomaterials for Biomedical Applications”.

Nanomaterials have become one of the most advanced research fields in the disciplines of chemistry, engineering, solid-state physics, biology and medicine. One explanation for this interest is that nanomaterials demonstrate innovative and frequently advantageous properties compared to conventional materials, which generate the capacity for new technological applications. The use of nanomaterials within the biomedical field offers the potential for many ground-breaking opportunities in the treatment and repair of diseased or damaged tissue or bone cancer as a consequence of bone, cardiac and neurodegenerative disorders, cancer, infection and other diseases. The nanoparticle-based biomaterials and medical devices that have been extensively investigated are predominantly either purely inorganic or organic materials. Specific examples include organic nanomaterials such as dendrimers, hyper-branched organic polymers, liposomes, micelles nanocrystals and polymeric hydrogel nanoparticles have been widely used as therapeutic and imaging agents. More recently, the development of inorganic nanomaterials such as metallic-based nanoparticles, superparamagnetic iron oxide nanoparticles and quantum dots have also generated attention for biomedical applications.

In another applicable example, composite (or hybrid) nanoparticles are comprised of inorganic and organic phases that are capable of not only maintaining the advantageous characteristics of both inorganic and organic nanomaterials, but also demonstrate novel benefits over the individual phases. For example, the potential to combine various organic and inorganic phases in an integrated manner allows for tailored tuning of the properties for biomedical applications. Composite-based nanoparticle systems have also been proposed for the targeted release of diagnostic agents, and also as stimuli-responsive nanocarriers for enhanced therapeutic response. The merging of these nanomaterials with research studies to identify genes, proteins and metabolites linked with human disease and the application of a system biology approach to design and develop new diagnostics tools and more focused therapies for patients, will significantly influence the future of healthcare research and development and clinical translation.

In this Special Issue of Nanomaterials, we expect contributions from a wide community of engineers and scientists working on diverse applications relating to the design, synthesis, characterisation, manufacture and translation of nanotechnology in biomedical engineering and interdisciplinary teams focusing on nanotechnology-enabled innovative solutions for biomedical research, diagnostics and advanced therapeutic approaches. As the safety of novel nanomaterials intended for the use in humans remains of primary importance, we also anticipate manuscripts dealing with these aspects of nanotechnology and nanomedicine in this Special Issue.

Prof. Nicholas Dunne
Dr. Tanya Levingstone
Prof. Helen McCarthy
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 250 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for assessment.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-anonymized peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Nanomaterials is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2400 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.