We as humans have this uncanny ability to be sick quite frequently, arguably, more than any other species on the planet. From the beginning of time, we have had medicines to combat illness, to treat our wounds and our imperfections of health. From herbal medicines to prayer and eventually prescriptions and medical injections. From the times of cavemen and the settlers and colonization of areas in Africa, religion and shamans led the charge medically with rituals and herbal remedies. This did not change until the European nations began their study of anatomy. An idea that health was a science and not a religious dogma. The birth of scientific medicine.
Technology has allowed the advancement of medicine. Technology allowed us to advance through from raw and unsterile amputations on the battlefield to an emergency tourniquet applied in the middle of gunfights. Now there is a new contender with medical improvements. Medical nanotechnology will be the future of the medical field. Nanotechnology will allow doctors, surgeons, and nurses to use microscopic robots to aid in the health improvements of patients.
Each medical nano-bot is tasked with different responsibilities that range from simple immune system boosters to curing cancer and virus from the body. With the growth and constant diagnosis of disease and the varying stages of different cancers nano-tech within the body became a necessity. The tasks of each bot will be displayed throughout the text in different accounts of their usage.
With the upcoming and rise of medical nanotechnology within the science of health there grow many concerns. Some of the concerns are what the nano-bots will be made of and how they will dissipate in the body or will we have to microscopically locate them. The leaders in the medical world are prepared to answer these questions, and–just like any other science–they will market this product and always find new ways to improve the effectiveness and overall quality of health that the medical nanotechnology field will provide. The public will need the knowledge and foundations that can be provided by research institutions and founders of different prototypes.
SHIRLEY 21:
The night was July 4th, 2017. Not only was it Independence Day, but Shirley’s twenty-first birthday. As most new twenty-one-year-olds do, she hit the bars to break in her new privilege of alcohol consumption. Her friends were buying her shots, trying to get her to “enjoy” the night especially being one of the biggest bar nights of the year. Many, many, many shots later Shirley began to have nausea, slurred speech and eventual vomiting and the end result of a blackout. Some consider this a success of a night out, however, her friends took her to the emergency room. The nurses were able to establish a saline and water solution to aid with rehydration, but they also injected some nano-bots tasked with aiding the liver with detoxification of the alcohol in her system. As the saline and water worked to rehydrate Shirley, the nano-bots were speeding up the breakdown of the alcohol. Shirley, like most new twenty-one-year-olds, will survive to tell her tale. However, she now has to thank not only the nurses and triage staff but the nano-bots that aided in her wake up from a horrid night of binge drinking. However, these nano-bots cannot help with the condition of organ tissue, yet. Organ function and conditions are still up to the individual to take care of.
RICHARD 63:
A man living in San Francisco, Richard, was experiencing extreme abdominal pain and went to the doctor. The first diagnosis was a misdiagnosis of irritable bowel syndrome. A few months passed, and Richard developed blood in his stool, constipation, fatigue and an unusual amount of weight loss. Richard then went to a hospital where he was diagnosed with colon cancer. Having friends that have passed from cancer, Richard was overwhelmed with the thought of his family and friends being left without him on this earth. The doctor told him of the experimental use of cancer fighting nano-bots which had the capability to fight and eradicate the cancer. Richard decided he would do it and try to fight the colon cancer at the front line, in his body. Richard was put under an anesthetic and had the nano-bots injected into his colon around the cancer. Once the nano-bots establish where the cancer was through tissue analysis they were able to use a micro-incision under the cancer’s growth to begin to lift the cancer from the colon. The surgeons are then able to pry the growth from the colon and declare Richard as cancer free. Richard’s operation was a success and his colon cancer has been in remission and he has been clean for two years now thanks to medical nanotechnology.
COLE 3:
Being a toddler in this world is quite dangerous. Putting everything in your mouth. Touching and exploring all surroundings. Life is rough for a three-year-old because they breed and contract viral diseases and bacterial infections all the time. This includes the flu and the common cold. Cole has experienced a fever and sore throat for a week now. His mother is worried sick and proceeds with a doctor visit to ensure Cole’s recovery. The doctor goes through the routine checkup procedure; feeling his head, taking his temperature, listening for congestion, and asking simple questions to the mother about her son’s behavior. The doctor explains to Cole’s mother that he has a common cold and it will pass within the next one to two weeks. Along with this information he prescribes rest and hydration along with the ingestion of a nano-bot that will help boost Cole’s immune system. The microscopic vitamin supplier will be ingested as soon as the pharmacy fills the order. Taken with water the nano-bot will rush through the toddler’s body distributing an immense amount of vitamin C to help boost his immune system when fighting the illness. The vitamin C will boost immune response and should aid in curing the illness at a more efficient response time. Nanomedicine has helped Cole stop the spread of infection and cure his immune system’s instabilities.
ALICE 16:
Alice was in her high school algebra class the other day when she fainted. She passed out and slammed her head on her desk. The class, being startled and in shock, contacted the school nurse who came to check on Alice. After checking her pulse and blood pressure, the nurse decided to check her blood sugar since Alice is a hypoglycemic individual. Her blood sugar was abnormally low, which was the cause of her faint. In today’s time, the nurse would have to administer glucagon through an injection and call for help, then wait for the help of an EMS team to arrive. In the future or coming years, Alice’s nurse will be able to immediately inject nano-bots full of glucose into the bloodstream. These bots dissolve with the sugar but raise the blood sugar levels in a patient who needs stability. This injection allows the nurse to not have to wait on the EMS and also allows for a faster reaction and response to Alice’s hypoglycemia. Since Alice is not conscious, due to her hypoglycemia, there is no simple action to be taken, such as drinking orange juice or eating a pixie stick. These bots aided in helping Alice recover a blood glucose stability and come out of the unconsciousness and begin a recovery in the nurse’s office. With the technology today, without the medical nanotechnology being readily available, it would have been a response from emergency medical services and a trip to the hospital being arranged for a simple blood glucose issue. Medical nanotechnology has helped people on a day to day basis solve medical complications in and outside of the medical facilities and institutions.
CARLOS 35:
Carlos is a firefighter within the city districts of New York City. In a recent structure fire, Carlos saved a man by pulling a burning beam from the man’s side that had trapped the man. In doing this Carlos severely burned his hands and is on medical leave. After the incident, Carlos was taken to the hospital where they are treating Carlos in an isolated and filtered room to prevent infection. The emergency room doctors have embedded thousands of medical nano-bots in the wounds of Carlos with an ointment that was spread over the burns. These bots are loaded with Carlos’s blood types and spare platelets. This will help rebuild the tissue on his hands at a quicker pace with natural healing and no “new skin.” Under the burn wrap that is already provided that traps and uses the blood already escaping from his body, the bits should cut his recovery time almost in half. Carlos should be back in the field saving lives in a matter of no time.
REBECCA 28:
Rebecca is a single mother of two children who works two jobs and some odd jobs to keep her and her kids afloat financially. Rebecca recently developed a hairline fracture of her tibia and it would potentially turn into a more serious problem that could put her out of work. With this in the back of her mind, she saw an advertisement for a new task in nanobots that aids in bone reproduction for those with fractures, big or small. Rebecca decided to go to the orthopedist and discuss the use of nano-bots to restore her bone, so she can continue to provide for her family. She scheduled the appointment for the next day and went home. When the next day came around they used a nerve block to numb her damaged leg. She was then injected with nano-bots into the knee joint that were tasked with navigation to the tibia. Once the bots reached the tibia they assumed the role of extra osteoblasts and began production of the bone in order for the fracture to close and take some of the severity away from her work situation. After waiting a couple hours from the procedure, she was able to go home to her children with one full day rest, so the bone could be reproduced. Rebecca was informed that the bots would then embed themselves in the fracture and dissolve in the bone for no further complications. Rebecca was able to go back to work with her fracture healed in just under forty-eight hours of the procedure. Without the medical nano-bots Rebecca would have been out of work for months with recovery and rehabilitation of the atrophied muscles, and she would not have been able to provide for her two children and herself. Medical nanotechnology is has become a huge player in how the medical treatments are being carried out in hospitals and doctors’ offices.
GERALD 28:
Gerald does not have any facial hair except for the small patches that rest on his jawline by his ears and chin. All of Gerald’s idols like Odel Beckham Jr, Bryce Harper, and James Harden have beards that are grizzlier than bears themselves. Gerald used to sit and wonder why his secondary sex characteristics prohibited the growth of such a manly and common privilege among young adults and grown males. Gerald went to dermatologists and hair growth specialists that eventually led him to an endocrinologist. Gerald had his testosterone levels tested and this was the main reason he could not grow the beard he so ambitiously desired. Gerald was informed of the nano-bots that were recently brought into the cosmetic market, but still had medical use. Because these nano-bots aided in the production of the hormone known as androgen, or testosterone. Gerald immediately jumped on this opportunity to be like his idols and followed his endocrinologist’s every word on how to grow an irresistible beard. He was injected with nano-bots, directly into the bloodstream, that would release excess testosterone within his body for the next month to come and he would come back every month after until this secondary sex characteristic began to present itself. After the bots performed their task of spiking his testosterone levels they would navigate their way through the bloodstream to the intestinal supply where they would embed themselves in the tissue and dissipate. Though this procedure is strictly cosmetic, the alteration of the hormonal balance makes this a medical procedure in which medical nano-bots were able to accomplish the complicated and exact processes needed for Gerald to grow the manliest beard of all of his idols. Now, this process can be done with today’s technology through hormone therapy. Standard procedure for today’s hormone therapy is hormone ingestion through pills to block or stunt production or injection to boost the production of another hormone. The nanobots will be a more efficient and stronger result than the traditional pills which vary in effectiveness based on the individual.
AUTHORS NOTE:
The previous story talks about a man named Gerald who wants to grow a beard to be like his idols. They accomplish his goals by using a hormonal nano-bot and alter his appearance. In the growing society where gender changes are more regular, it would be possible for an individual to use this same process with estrogen or testosterone to get the desired effect on the human body. Women wanting to be more masculine would use testosterone and men looking or seek femininity would use estrogen. This would allow and does allow for the acceptance of individuals within the society we live in now to become who they want to become. This does not change the genetics of the human being but does alter the hormonal balance and would allow for the individual to seek the appearance that they wish.
HERMOINE 18:
As a woman who was a pure athlete, Hermoine always was the best of her class. She was involved in a car accident that ruined her gymnastics career. With her leg in a full cast, muscular atrophy was unavoidable. Hermoine and her parents were in the hospital when the leg was put in the cast, however, this time was different. There were two types of nano-bots put into her body. She had the bone regeneration osteoblast nano-bots to aid in bone production, but she also was prescribed a muscular ameliorate. These nano-bots will aid in the production and maintenance of muscle tissue while the bone heals. Hopefully, the outcome of this would allow Hermoine to not have too much rehabilitation afterward to regain the loss in muscle a patient would normally experience with an intense or compound fracture.
CONCLUSION AND FINAL THOUGHTS:
Knowledge is the key to getting the public behind a newer usage of technology, especially the kind that can influence one’s health by going inside the individual. We would hope as a society that people are concerned about what goes into their body and how it will work. That is the sole reason that there are drug facts with symptoms of when to stop medications, directions on how to take them and when, and a nutrition area to tell you about the ingredients and if there is something in the drug that could harm you. With any medical advancement, the funding to properly aid the production of a life changing tool in a very potent point that will be made hopefully to the wealthy who are willing to spend their money on a good cause. Medical nanotechnology is the future of medical treatments. Anything from hormonal imbalances, the common cold, cancers, fractures, and hopefully the balance of immunity within a human population. These microscopic robots will be the future of our health industry with such a wide variety of uses within the scientific field of health. From the standpoint of research on the topic, there is an abundance that the general public has access to. There is probably better research that is classified or is soon to be unclassified. The actual use of medical nano-bots could come into effect within the coming decade. This is without a doubt a life changing science that will save many lives, but will not grow without some complexities and further research
AUTHOR BIO
Haedyn Hale is a college student from York, Pennsylvania who enjoys the outdoors.
Proud American