Applications of Nano-Ferrites in Medicine

Abstract

Nano-ferrites are elegant and smart nanoparticles. Biomedical implementations of nano-ferrites include cell signaling, hyperthermia, magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), nanorobots, drug delivery, anti-cancer function, anti-fungi, anti-bacteria, biosensors, brain stimulation, wound healing, etc. Nano-ferrites showed anticancer features towards various types of cancer cells, such as breast cancer. They have been used for drug delivery as well as drug release. Magnetic hyperthermia is a successful approach in cancer treatment, where nano-ferrites have been used under the influence of external magnetic fields. Nano-ferrites are used as magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) contrast agents. Furthermore, nano-ferrites have been involved in the magnetic nanorobots and biosensors industries. Superparamagnetic nanocrystals including manganese nano-ferrites have been utilized in the activation of thermos-sensitive transient receptor potential vanilloid 1 (TRPV1) channels to attain further brain stimulation. The chemo-genetic modulation of targeted neural circuits using superparamagnetic nano-ferrite particles provides a novel strategy for brain stimulation so as to investigate brain functions and neurological diseases. Moreover, they have antibacterial and antifungal activity against several types of bacteria and fungi, such as E. coli and Candida albicans. Pr6O11/Fe2O3/GO@PCL film nanocomposites have been used in skin wound healing treatment; thence, these smart new nanocomposites could be utilized in the advancement of wound healing applications.