Nanotechnology and nanomedicine

Abstract Nanotechnology has garnered tremendous interest from the scientific community and captured the vivid imagination of the general public for many years. It is a broad field of study that spans various scientific disciplines with myriad useful applications. In medicine, nanotechnology is being developed for a multitude of purposes to improve the diagnosis, management, and treatment of diseases. This chapter provides a brief historical timeline of nanotechnology and nanomedicine, describes the current state of nanomedicine, and lays the basic groundwork for further discussions about nanotechnology in cardiology.