2010; Chorny et al. 2010). This research is still quite new, however, and the question remains as to whether or not nanoparticles can truly serve as a replacement for stents by prohibiting plaque growth through a variety of means, including more targeted and longer-range delivery of pharmaceutical substances that destroy such build-ups and inhibit plaque deposits from forming. The efficacy of this approach has already been preliminarily demonstrated, but the long-term viability and safety of this intervention method as well as attendant risks have not yet been fully determined (Chan et al. 2010; Chorny et al. 2010).
IV. Motivation for Research
Despite the numerous advancements that have been made in treating plaque build-up in arteries and the general treatment and control of other cardiac issues, coronary artery disease is still the leading cause of death in North America and is a significant problem in other parts of the world, as well (Schoenhagen & Nissen 2003). This provides ample motivation for the study of techniques that might be more effective in treating and preventing coronary artery disease than those that are currently employed; the benefits of such research will directly impact the lives of many individuals by providing increasingly effective, less invasive, and more cost-effective treatments that prolong life and improve the quality of life. There are also more intrinsic motivations for conducting this research, including the ability to develop knowledge and work at the forefront of medical and engineering science, and though personal these motivations are not to be taken lightly.
V. Improvement...
2010; Chorny et al. 2010). It is the goal of this research to improve these methods by including not only the functionality of the newly developed technologies, but also to assess the health improvements and/or rates of re-incidence in patients that undergo nanoparticle treatment, with regression analysis used to determine the degree of correlation between this treatment and changes in health. This will also allow for direct comparison to other treatment methods in terms of efficacy.
References
Chan, J., Zhang, L., Tong, R., Ghosh, D., Gao, W., Liao, G….Farokhzad, O. (2010). Spatiotemporal controlled delivery of nanoparticles to injured vasculature. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, January 2010.
Chorny, M., Fishbein, I., Yellen, B., Alferiev, I., Bakay, M., Ganta, S….Levy, R. (2010). Targeting stents with local delivery of paclitaxel-loaded magnetic nanoparticles using uniform fields. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, April 2010.
Kohn, J. & Zeltinger, J. (2005). Degradable, drug-eluting stents: a new frontier for the treatment of coronary artery disease. Expert review of medical devices, 2(6), pp. 667-71.
Schoenhagen, P. & Nissen, S. (2003). Assessing Coronary Plaque Burden and Plaque Vulnerability:Atherosclerosis Imaging With IVUS and Emerging Noninvasive…
