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

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

15.4.3 Phagocytosis of Medical Nanorobots

A phagocyte is a cell that has the ability to ingest and degrade particulate substances such as bacteria, protozoa, cells and cell debris, dust particles, colloids, and, in principle, medical nanorobots. This process of ingestion and destruction is called phagocytosis [2832, 2867].

This Section opens with a general description of phagocytes, phagocytosis, and the reticuloendothelial system (Section 15.4.3.1), and then describes the phagocytic clearance of microparticles from the blood (Section 15.4.3.2), from the nonsanguinous spaces (Section 15.4.3.3), the lymphatics (Section 15.4.3.4), and by foreign body reaction (Section 15.4.3.5). We conclude with a discussion of techniques for phagocyte avoidance and escape by medical nanorobots (Section 15.4.3.6).

Last updated on 30 April 2004