© 1999 Robert A. Freitas Jr. All Rights Reserved.

Robert A. Freitas Jr., Nanomedicine, Volume I: Basic Capabilities, Landes Bioscience, Georgetown, TX, 1999

4.6 Thermal Nanosensors

The ability of medical nanodevices to measure both absolute temperature and changes in temperature is crucial for monitoring in vivo physiological thermoregulatory mechanisms and intracellular energy transactions. Precision thermal sensing is also important within nanoscale devices to provide corrective input for pressure, chemical, and displacement sensors, and to improve the stability of onboard clocks. General limits of thermal sensing are considered in Section 4.6.1, followed by several proposals for specific implementations.

Last updated on 17 February 2003