Bursic 8:00
L05
ENGINEERING BETTER MEDICINE
Meghan Scott (mrs126@pitt.edu)
of the nanoparticle. The critical point of designing a
nanoparticle is manipulating the surface. The main
characteristic of the nanoparticle that draws so much
attention is its versatility. Also, it is much safer than
previous methods of administering drugs because lower
doses are able to be given to obtain the same or better effect
[5]. People will be greatly helped because if the drug is more
effective in treating the disease, there will be fewer side
effects. People will then have more effective treatments,
which will result in fewer interruptions in their lives.
Nanoparticle technology is able to better meet the individual
needs of a greater number of patients, especially those
suffering from cardiovascular disease and cancer due to the
fact that nanoparticles target specific locations better than
current treatments.
NANOPARTICLES
Nanoparticles are a relatively new technology that is on the
rise in various medical applications. Nanoparticles are part
of the development of personalized medicines, which in turn
relates to the National Academy of Engineering grand
challenge of “engineering better medicines”[1]. This
challenge is of particular interest to me because it combines
engineering and medicine. There are always going to be
people who develop certain medical conditions that need
very specific treatment. Nanoparticles have versatility and
the ability to be very specific in targeting the desired
location that needs treatment[2].
Nanoparticles also have multiple functions, which vary
from disease detection to disease treatment and
prevention[2]. Currently, nanoparticles are being developed
to more effectively carry drugs to their intended site. The
research that is being done on nanoparticles causes
numerous disciplines to come together, which allows the
most effective nanoparticle to be developed. By having
multiple disciplines come together, engineers must be sure to
abide by Article II, Section 2, Part a of the Code of Ethics
for Engineers to ensure they are staying within the realm of
their abilities[3].
As engineers develop nanoparticles, they must
carefully abide by the Biomedical Engineering Research
Obligations of the Biomedical Engineering Society Code of
Ethics and the Professional Obligations of the Code of
Ethics for Engineers. Biomedical engineers must consider
the privacy of those who choose to be research participants
and the future patients, which must be done according to the
first Biomedical Engineering Health Care Obligation[4].
The other Biomedical Engineering Professional Obligations
also must be strictly abided by.
By creating a research paper and having to evaluate the
ethics of a topic has provided me a glimpse into the
engineering world. Through the process of doing the
background reading and the research for the paper, the
instructors have given us just a taste of what engineering
will be in the future. A detailed assignment requiring the use
of this information is valuable to a freshman engineer
because there is a chance to look into a current challenge in
the field that is of interest to the student. Also, the
assignment helps to prepare the students on how a research
paper will have to be written in the future.
TARGETED DRUG DELIVERY
The ability of nanoparticles to carry drugs to the desired site
of treatment is another way that nanoparticles are working
towards engineering better medicines. Some other predicted
advantages of nanoparticles are: lesser volume of drug
needed for treatment and reduction of offsite drug effects,
such as hair loss in cancer treatment[6]. The drug-carrying
nanoparticle is also better designed to target the specific
cells or tissues that it is intended for. There are various types
of nanoparticles including viruses and gold nanoparticles,
which enables both gene therapy and drug delivery[2]. The
options are endless for delivering drugs to specific tissues or
tumors because there are endless possibilities in the types of
nanoparticles. The nanoparticles just have to be developed to
detect or treat a patient’s disease. In some cases, multiple
drugs are needed to treat a disease and nanoparticles are
currently being developed to carry multiple drugs.
MULTI-DRUG NANOPARTICLES
Nanoparticles also have the ability to carry multiple drugs at
once, which is very useful for patients who have diseases
that need drugs to have a synergistic effect, such as cancer.
Currently, doctors do not have the ability to control when
drugs are released into the bloodstream. A team of
researchers at MIT is studying gold nanoparticles, which
release the drug, attached to the nanoparticle, when exposed
to infrared light [7]. The technology allows for the release of
3 or 4 drugs [7]. Gold nanoparticle technology will allow for
better control of timing drug release into the bloodstream.
The time of the release of the drug can be further controlled
by the wavelength of the infrared light [7]. The synergistic
effect is also needed for AIDS patients, which is another
group of people that nanotechnology could help in the
future. The treatment would be more effective and
WHAT ARE NANOPARTICLES?
A nanoparticle is an extremely small particle that is defined
as being less than 100nm [2]. Nanoparticles are not the
actual drugs; the drugs are enclosed inside or on the surface
University of Pittsburgh
Swanson School of Engineering
November 1, 2011
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Meghan Scott
personalized because the timing of drug release could be
controlled externally. By pursuing this type of treatment,
people will have fewer side effects because the treatment is
catered to their personal needs. In each step of the research
and application to medicine, biomedical engineers must
carefully consider the ethics behind each one. The ethics that
an engineer must consider ranges from enhancing the
welfare of the public to ensuring that they are abiding by
research guidelines and other laws enacted by the United
States.
less exposure to harmful drugs and better targeted drugs.
Engineers and their ability to design nanoparticles to cater to
multiple needs are “enhancing the safety, health, and welfare
of the public” [4].
Biomedical engineers and doctors must respect the rights
of patients, “including those of confidentiality and
privacy”[4]. It is outlined in the first Biomedical
Engineering Health Obligation of the Biomedical
Engineering Society Code of Ethics. Biomedical engineers
must abide by this because it is against the law to release
patients’ medical records without their permission. The rule
also applies to research studies, which is important to
engineers because they cannot publish the names of
participants without permission. It would be unethical for an
engineer to talk about a specific patient in terms of their
name in a published article. Therefore, privacy, as an ethical
code, is also held paramount in biomedical engineering.
APPLIED ETHICS TO NANOPARTICLE
DEVELOPMENT
In the design of nanoparticles, researchers must carefully
consider the adverse effects that certain chemicals have on
the body. Engineers may develop a nanoparticle that
successfully delivers a drug, but finds that there is a
chemical that was used in the development of the
nanoparticle that may be toxic to humans. A researcher is
bound to publish this information according to Article II:
Rules of Practice, Section 3, Part a of the Code of Ethics for
Engineers, which states that “They shall include all relevant
and pertinent information[3].” The engineer who discovers
the toxic drug uses his knowledge to keep the public safe as
required by the Biomedical Engineering Professional
Obligations in the Biomedical Engineering Society Code of
Ethics[4]. The engineer is also bound by Article II: Rules of
Practice, Section 1, Part a, to notify their employer because
the lives of future patients are endangered because a
chemical used in development is known to be toxic.
If there is one engineer who is the director of a lab
developing a nanoparticle to target a cancerous tumor in the
brain, then he must give full credit to those who helped him
develop the technology, which must be done in accordance
with Article III: Professional Obligations, Section 9, Part a.
The section states “Engineers shall, whenever possible,
name the person or persons who may be individually
responsible for designs, inventions, writings, or other
accomplishments”[3]. The lab members must then be named
and recognized if they contributed to the development of the
nanoparticle. In the field of biomedical engineering, ethical
behavior is paramount.
The biomedical engineers involved in developing the
nanoparticles that are administered like in the gold
nanoparticle study must abide by Article II: Rules of
Practice, Section 2, Part a[3]. The engineers are not
experienced in the field of administering the drug containing
nanoparticles, only a doctor has this expertise. They are
bound then to stay within the realm of their abilities in solely
designing the technology. The patient’s doctor must actually
administer the drug and determine the amount of drug
needed for the treatment of a specific patient. The amount of
drug needed for treatment is “∼1000 times less than the dose
of the free drug required for equivalent tumor regression”[6].
The health of the public is safeguarded because they have
WRITING AND RESEARCH BENEFITS
The evaluation of engineering challenges and the in-depth
research conducted positively impacted my first freshman
engineering semester. The thorough look into the National
Academy of Engineering grand challenges gave me a broad
view of all of the different types of problems that I could
potentially work on in the future. The paper was an
opportunity to choose a topic of interest relevant to the field
of engineering that I am planning to pursue. After
researching the topic, I had to revise and consider the ethics
that engineers must abide by. It was an early glimpse at all
that I will have to consider in the future, as an engineer.
It was valuable to look at all the codes of NSPE and
BMES because now I am aware, early on, that there are
many rules that I must abide by in the profession. I looked
specifically into how the codes apply to lab-based research.
This is the type of job that I hope to pursue, so it is of use to
know that I will have to ensure that I recognize everyone in
the lab when I publish my findings. I cannot throw out
results that do not fit my hypotheses; those results must also
be published in reports. If I had not been exposed to these
codes early on, there would be a greater risk that I would
violate them in the future. All students should have some
kind of exposure to the codes, a paper was a great way
because we not only had to read the codes, but we had to
apply them.
In the article “Multidisciplinary Freshman Engineering,”
it is stated that “students need first, and foremost, to become
critical-thinking problem solvers”[9]. The paper caused us to
critically think by the process of having to go from a grand
challenge, to a topic, and to a narrower focal point. Once we
reached this step, we had to go even further and evaluate
what we researched in terms of ethics. Finally, we had to go
back and support the ethics behind our specific focal point
with more details. Through these past two writing
assignments, we have also learned how to properly format
research papers in the future. The skills that we have
University of Pittsburgh
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November 1, 2011
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Meghan Scott
[7] MIT. (2009, January). “Gold Nanoparticles May Carry
Multiple Drugs to Treat Cancer.” Hindustan Times. [Online
Article].
Available:
http://www.lexisnexis.com/hottopics/lnacademic/?shr=t&csi
=282802&sr=HLEAD%28GOLD+NANOPARTICLES+M
AY+CARRY+MULTIPLE+DRUGS+TO+TREAT+CANC
ER%29+and+date+is+January,%202009
[8] K. Craig and H. Park. (2010). “Multidisciplinary
Freshman Engineering.” IEEE Conference Proceeding.
[Online
Article].
Available:
http://ieeexplore.ieee.org/stamp/stamp.jsp?tp=&arnumber=5
508876
acquired through these assignments will be of use in college
as well as during our professional careers.
TECHNOLOGY, ETHICS, AND EDUCATION
There are numerous possibilities to where nanoparticles
could take us in the future. Nanoparticles could improve
various other medical procedures by making the treatment
last longer because they have the ability of controlled
release. They also have the ability to cater to very specific
medical needs. Medical treatments will be improved with the
addition of nanoparticles by producing fewer side effects
and more onsite drug delivery.
Ethics must also be considered in the research and
development of the nanoparticles, however. There must be
credit paid where it is due and all results found must be
published, according to both the Code of Ethics for
Engineers and the Biomedical Engineering Society Code of
Ethics. Researchers must ensure that they stay within their
realm of expertise as well.
There is educational value in researching the grand
challenges and having to choose a specific challenge to
focus on. It causes students to critically think and they get an
early exposure to the ethics that they will have to abide by in
the future. Others who have not been exposed to the ethics
early on may be more tempted to violate them or may do so
without knowing.
ADDITIONAL SOURCES
D. Bennett-Woods. (2008). “Environmental Risks of
Nanotechnology” in Nanotechnology: Ethics and Society.
Boca Raton, FL: CRC Press. pp.157-159
(2011). “Engineer Better Medicines.” National Academy of
Engineering Grand Challenges for Engineering. [Online:
Website].
Available:
http://www.engineeringchallenges.org/cms/8996/9129.aspx
(2010,May). “Magnetic Fields Drive Drug-Loaded
Nanoparticles into Vessels.” FARS News Agency. [Online
Article].
Available:
http://www.lexisnexis.com/hottopics/lnacademic/?shr=t&csi
=356949&sr=HLEAD%28Magnetic+Fields+Drive+DrugLoaded+Nanoparticles+Into+Vessels%29+and+date+is+Ma
y,%202010
A. Revkin. “How Many ‘Grand’ Engineering Challendes
Are Really Policy Challenges?.” The New York Times.
[Online:
Website].
Available:
http://dotearth.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/02/20/how-manygrand-engineering-challenges-are-really-policy-challenges/.
S. Unger. (2010). “Responsibility in Engineering: Victor
Paschkis vs Wernher von Braun.” IT Professional. [Online
Article].
12
(3),
pp.
6-7.
Available:
DOI
10.1109/MITP.2010.94
REFERENCES
[1] (2011). “Introduction to the Grand Challenges for
Engineering.” National Academy of Engineering Grand
Challenges for Engineering. [Online: Website]. Available:
http://www.engineeringchallenges.org/cms/8996/9221.aspx
[2] R. Singh and J. W. Lillard. (2008, November).
“Nanoparticle-based Targeted Drug Delivery.” Experimental
and Molecular Pathology, Volume 86, Issue 3 [Online
Article].
Available:
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S00144800
0800141X
[3] (2007). Code of Ethics for Engineers. National Society of
Professional Engineers. [Online Article]. Available:
http://www.nspe.org/Ethics/CodeofEthics/index.html.
[4] (2004). Biomedical Engineering Society Code of Ethics.
Biomedical Engineering Society. [Online PDF]. Available:
http://www.bmes.org/aws/BMES/pt/sp/constitution.
[5] S. Jin and K. Ye. (2008, September). “NanoparticleMediated Drug Delivery and Gene Therapy.” Biotechnology
Progress.
[Online:
Article].
Available:
http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1021/bp060348j/full
[6] J. Chomoucka. (2010, February). “Magnetic
Nanoparticles
and
Targeted
Drug
Delivering.”
Pharmacological Research, Volume 62, Issue 2. [Online
Article].
Available:
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S10436618
10000289
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
I would like to thank Nancy Korbel for clearly laying out the
assignment and providing answers to all my questions. I
would also like to thank Steven Van Tuyl, who is a librarian
in the Bevier library, who helped me to get started on
writing assignment 2. I would also like to thank Julianne
McAdoo for helping me to get my ideas flowing for the
writing assignment 2 and helping me edit writing assignment
3. Also, I would like to thank Emily Costantinou for helping
me review writing assignment 2, which has made writing
assignment 3 much easier since I did not have to revise it.
University of Pittsburgh
Swanson School of Engineering
November 1, 2011
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