Emerging nanotechnological research for future pathways of biomedicine

The purpose of this paper is to measure and analyse the rate of scientific and technological advance of some emerging nanotechnological research fields in biomedicine to detect path-breaking technological trajectories. The approach, based on exponential models of growth, shows the current evolutionary trends of nano-research that may underpin future patterns of technological innovation in biomedicine and nanomedicine. In particular, results show that biosensors, quantum dots, carbon nanotubes and nanomicelles have innovative applications in diagnostics and targeted therapies for cancers that have been generating a revolution in clinical practice. The present study also detects two main determinants that have been supporting continuous diffusion of nano-technology in biomedicine: convergence of genetics, genomics and nanotechnology and multiplicity of learning processes in clinical research/practice. These drivers have been paving groundbreaking pathways in biomedicine that can lead to longer, better and healthier living of societies in not-too-distant future.