Patients, here comes more nanotechnology

Warren CW Chan, Buddhisha Udugama, Pranav Kadhiresan, Jisung Kim, Samira Mubareka, Paul S Weiss, Wolfgang J Parak

ACS Nano 2016, 10, 9, 8139–8142 | DOI: 10.1021/acsnano.6b05610

Abstract

We describe the current difference in reporting the performance of nanotechnology diagnostic devices between technologists and clinicians. This perspective specifies the “metrics” used to evaluate these devices and describes strategies to bridge the gap between these two communities in order to accelerate the translation from academic bench to the clinic. We use two recently published ACS Nano articles to highlight the evaluation of silicon nanowire and surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy-breath diagnostic tests for patients afflicted with cancer and asthma. These studies represent some of the earliest studies of emerging nanotechnology devices utilizing clinical parameters to assess performance.