© 2003 Robert A. Freitas Jr. All Rights Reserved.

Robert A. Freitas Jr., Nanomedicine, Volume IIA: Biocompatibility, Landes Bioscience, Georgetown, TX, 2003

15.2.3 Nanorobot Immunoreactivity

The human immune system is designed to recognize and react to foreign material that enters the body. Hence the immunoreactivity of a foreign substance is a key measure of the biocompatibility of that substance. Before we consider how such reactivities might be purposely engineered, it is useful to briefly review the broad outlines of the human immune system (Section 15.2.3.1). This is followed by a discussion of the complement (Section 15.2.3.2) and antibody (Section 15.2.3.3) systems, including an evaluation of their potential interactions with medical nanorobots. We conclude with a brief description of purposeful immunosuppression and tolerization (Section 15.2.3.4), immune privilege (Section 15.2.3.5), and immune evasion (Section 15.2.3.6), all of which are relevant in nanomedicine. An analysis of the phagocyte system and its interactions with nanorobots is deferred to Section 15.4.3.

Last updated on 30 April 2004