Unlocking the new frontier of biomedical innovation in disease prevention and treatment

The advancement of novel biomedical concepts and their applications has ushered in a new era of biomedical innovation. The key categories of biomedical innovation addressed in this chapter include but are not limited to, the large-scale invention and popularization of: (1) rationally designed/engineered molecules, polymers, hydrogels, scaffolds, microcarriers, and matrices; (2) implantable or injectable therapeutics; (3) molecularly targeted or dendritic cell-targeted biomolecules including proteins, RNAi and DNA/RNA therapeutics; (4) high fidelity imaging systems and their implementation in animal models and patients; (5) combinatorial approaches to restoring normal biological and disease functions in patients; and (6) nanoscale systems and devices designed for disease prevention and treatment of cancer and inflammatory, cardiovascular, musculoskeletal, neurological, and infectious diseases and disorders.