ABSTRACT
The Institute of Holistic Medical Sciences (IHMS), Kottayam, Kerala, India, the Institute of Macromolecular Science and Engineering (IMSE), Kottayam, Kerala, India and Mathew Ayurveda und Venen Klinik (MUVK), Klagenfurt, Austria, have jointly conducted a 3-day world conference on nanomedicine and drug delivery (WCN 2010) in Kottayam, Kerala, India from 16-18 April 2010. Nanomedicine is defined as the application of nanotechnology to achieve breakthroughs in healthcare. It exploits the improved and often novel physical, chemical and biological properties of materials at the nanometer scale. It has the potential to enable early detection and prevention and to improve diagnosis, treatment and follow-up of diseases. Nanomedicine is a very special area of nanotechnology because it is an extremely large field ranging from in vivo and in vitro diagnostics to therapy including targeted delivery and regenerative medicine; it interfaces nanomaterials (e.g., surfaces and particles) or analytical instruments with 'living' human material (cells, tissue and body fluids) and it creates new tools and methods that impact significantly on existing practices.