Carbon nanomaterials for cardiovascular theranostics: Promises and challenges

Abstract

Cardiovascular diseases (CVDs) are the leading cause of death worldwide. Heart attack and stroke cause irreversible tissue damage. The currently available treatment options are limited to “damage-control” rather than tissue repair. The recent advances in nanomaterials have offered novel approaches to restore tissue function after injury. In particular, carbon nanomaterials (CNMs) have shown significant promise to bridge the gap in clinical translation of biomaterial based therapies. This family of carbon allotropes (including graphenes, carbon nanotubes and fullerenes) have unique physiochemical properties, including exceptional mechanical strength, electrical conductivity, chemical behaviour, thermal stability and optical properties. These intrinsic properties make CNMs ideal materials for use in cardiovascular theranostics. This review is focused on recent efforts in the diagnosis and treatment of heart diseases using graphenes and carbon nanotubes. The first section introduces currently available derivatives of graphenes and carbon nanotubes and discusses some of the key characteristics of these materials. The second section covers their application in drug delivery, biosensors, tissue engineering and immunomodulation with a focus on cardiovascular applications. The final section discusses current shortcomings and limitations of CNMs in cardiovascular applications and reviews ongoing efforts to address these concerns and to bring CNMs from bench to bedside.

Recent progress in actuation technologies of micro/nanorobots

“…Third, the study of fabrication and new materials of micro/nanorobots. With the continuous development of nanotechnology, more and more new materials and new technologies have emerged [51,52]. In order to make good use of micro/nanorobots in biomedicine and other fields, new fabrication methods of micro/ nanorobots should be explored, and more biocompatible nanomaterials should be selected to reduce costs and expand applications.…”

Smart Hydrogels Meet Carbon Nanomaterials for New Frontiers in Medicine

“…Graphene’s high conductivity, low density, and chemical stability, make it a highly researched component also for conductive-tissue regeneration [ 104 , 105 ], such as the nerve [ 59 ] and cardiac tissues [ 106 ]. To this end, natural biopolymers such as alginate [ 101 ] and biodegradable alternatives such as polylactic acid [ 44 ], are often preferred, although new synthetic materials are also being investigated.…”

Carbon Dots: Classification, Properties, Synthesis, Characterization, and Applications in Health Care—An Updated Review (2018–2021)

“…Amidst these nanomaterials, carbon-based nanomaterials are widely studied because of their indisputable prevalence in terms of biocompatibility, non-toxicity, inertness, eco-friendliness, long-term chemical stability, fluorescence properties, high electrical and thermal conductivity, large effective surface area, easy functionalization due to their abundant functional groups, excellent electro-catalytic activity, their ability to readily modify various electrodes during the construction of a wide range of biosensing platforms, etc. [26][27][28][29][30][31].…”

“…In the area of biomedicine and sensing technology, CDs are usually selected as the transducing elements or as the electrode modifiers, either in combination with other nanomaterials or as an individual nanomaterial for the desired sensing applications [56,57]. Additionally, they have an inimitable combination of electrical, mechanical, and optical characteristics to introduce miniaturized sensors with outstanding attributes for point-ofcare-testing (POCT) [28,29,31]. CDs as the potent imaging agents play a pivotal role in the real-time imagining of either certain cells, tissues, organs, or in combination, that help in the accurate diagnosis of various forms of cancer and several diseases.…”