Over the past two decades, nanomedicine has grown steadily, however, without inducing a palpable shift in the diagnosis and treatment of diseases so far. While this may simply be a consequence of the slow, incremental nature that characterizes many modern technologies, this article posits that there is another set of significant factors harboring explanatory power. Uncertainties concerning safety, regulatory, and ethical requirements may have prompted innovators to stay close to the known and approved, eventually at the cost of innovating in unexplored alleys. Network analysis of all nanomedicine patents in the United States reveals that nanomedicine has indeed rather consolidated than expanded. We detail a set of recommendations that would reduce the uncertainty prevailing in nanomedicine and could contribute to pushing new boundaries. This article is categorized under: Toxicology and Regulatory Issues in Nanomedicine > Regulatory and Policy Issues in Nanomedicine.

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纳米医学的巩固。

然而，在过去的二十年中，纳米药物一直在稳定增长，而迄今为止并未引起明显的疾病诊断和治疗变化。尽管这可能仅仅是许多现代技术所特有的缓慢，渐进式的结果，但本文假定存在另一组具有解释力的重要因素。有关安全性，法规和道德要求的不确定性可能促使创新者与已知和认可的人保持紧密联系，最终以在未开发小巷中进行创新为代价。对美国所有纳米医学专利的网络分析表明，纳米医学确实确实在巩固而不是扩展。我们详细介绍了一系列建议，这些建议将减少纳米医学中普遍存在的不确定性，并有助于推动新的界限。