title: Applications of carbon nanotubes in biomedical studies.
abstract: Carbon nanotubes (CNTs) are novel, one-dimensional nanomaterials with many unique physical and chemical properties that have been increasingly explored for biological and biomedical applications. In this chapter, we briefly summarize the intrinsic properties of single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWNTs), a special class of CNTs, and their corresponding applications in these fields. SWNTs have been utilized for the ultrasensitive detection of biological species, providing a label-free approach. SWNT-Raman tags have achieved detection sensitivity down to 1 fmol/L. SWNT-based drug delivery systems have shown promising potential based on preliminary in vitro and in vivo studies. Also, the remarkable optical properties of SWNTs have made them promising candidates as contrast agents for imaging in cells and animals. Moreover, due to their excellent mechanical strength, SWNTs have been used to improve the mechanical properties of solid polymeric nanocomposites and porous scaffolds. Sample preparation procedures for the use of SWNTs as fluorescent imaging labels and in biological composites will be discussed.
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, University of Maryland, College Park, MD, USA. liaohw@umd.edu
authors.forename: Hongwei
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Liao
authors.forename: Bhavna
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Paratala
authors.forename: Balaji
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Sitharaman
authors.forename: Yuhuang
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Wang
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D035843:Biomedical Research / Q000295:instrumentation* / Q000379:methods; D045744:Cell Line, Tumor; D006801:Humans; D051379:Mice; D023421:Models, Animal; D037742:Nanotubes, Carbon / Q000737:chemistry*; D011108:Polymers / Q000737:chemistry / Q000378:metabolism; D016062:Porosity
chemical_list: D037742:Nanotubes, Carbon; D011108:Polymers