Polymeric and Ceramic Nanoparticles in Biomedical Applications

Table 1

Different polymeric nanoparticles used as nanocarriers.

Polymeric nanocarrier	Structure	Characteristics	Technology applied in biomedicine	Company	Reference
Nanoparticles (polymer-substance conjugate)	Substance of interest is conjugated to the side chain of a linear polymer with a linker	Water-soluble, nontoxic, biodegradable.; Surface modification (pegylation); Selective accumulation and retention in tumor tissue when used as drug carrier; Specific targeting of certain cells through receptor-mediated targeting with a ligand	Polymeric nanoparticles engineered to carry antitumor drugs across blood-brain barrier; Biodegradable polymeric nanoparticles for drug delivery; Polybutylcyanoacrylate nanoparticles coated with drugs and then a surfactant which go across blood-brain barrier	Advectus Life Sciences Inc.; Alnis Biosciences, Inc.; NanoPharm AG	[9, 27]
Micelles	Assembly of amphiphilic block copolymers forming a micelle with a hydrophobic shell	Suitable carriers for water-insoluble drugs; Biocompatible, self-assembling, and biodegradable; Ease of functional modification can become targeted	Glucose level monitoring in diabetes mellitus; Encapsulation of insulin for treatment of diabetes; Cell membrane and intracellular labeling; Encapsulation of drugs, protein DNA; Magnetic cores surrounded by a polymeric layer coated with antibodies for capturing cells	NanoCarrier Co., Ltd.; Immunicon	[27–29]
Dendrimers	Hyperbranched synthetic polymer with regular pattern and repeated units	Biodistribution pharmacokinetics can be controlled; High structural and chemical homogeneity; Easily functionalized; Allows high ligand and drug density; Controlled degradation; Multifunctionality	Water soluble dendrimer based contrast agents for computed tomography; Delivery of chemotherapeutic drugs	Starpharma	[21, 22]