Quantum Dots as Functional Nanosystems for Enhanced Biomedical Applications

TL;DR

This review discusses the potential of quantum dots in biomedicine, highlighting their unique properties, recent advances, and challenges like toxicity and stability, aiming to guide future clinical applications.

Contribution

It provides a comprehensive overview of quantum dots' types, synthesis, applications, and recent progress, including strategies to mitigate toxicity for biomedical use.

Findings

Quantum dots offer tunable emission and high stability for bioimaging.

Recent surface modification strategies reduce toxicity.

Challenges include bioaccumulation and short-term stability.

Abstract

Quantum dots (QDs) have emerged as promising nanomaterials with unique optical and physical properties, making them highly attractive for various applications in biomedicine. This review provides a comprehensive overview of the types, modes of synthesis, characterization, applications, and recent advances of QDs in the field of biomedicine, with a primary focus on bioimaging, drug delivery, and biosensors. The unique properties of QDs, such as tunable emission spectra, long-term photostability, high quantum yield, and targeted drug delivery, hold tremendous promise for advancing diagnostics, therapeutics, and imaging techniques in biomedical research. However, several significant hurdles remain before their full potential in the biomedical field, like bioaccumulation, toxicity, and short-term stability. Addressing these hurdles is essential to effectively incorporate QDs into clinical use and enhance their influence on healthcare outcomes. Furthermore, the review conducts a critical analysis of potential QD toxicity and explores recent progress in strategies and methods to mitigate these adverse effects, such as surface modification, surface coatings, and encapsulation. By thoroughly examining current research and recent advancements, this comprehensive review offers invaluable insights into both the future possibilities and the challenges that lie ahead in fully harnessing the potential of QDs in the field of biomedicine, promising a revolution in the landscape of medical diagnostics, therapies, and imaging technologies.