From Nanotechwire: The Targeted Nano-Therapeutics (TNT) system is the first of its kind in the world. The core technology of the TNT system was developed by Chelmsford-based Triton BioSystems in partnership with the U.S. Army Research Lab, Weapons and Materials Directorate.
The Army first developed this nano-technology to help improve battlefield repairs of military armor, but Triton BioSystems saw an opportunity to use it to kill cancer tumors. The TNT system attacks cancer in three steps. First, the patient receives a simple infusion containing trillions of bioprobes, each of which is a nano-scale magnetic sphere bound to an antibody. Once in the bloodstream, the bioprobes seek out and attach to cancer cells. Finally, the doctor switches on a magnetic field in the region of the cancer, which causes the bioprobes to heat up, killing the cancer cells within minutes. A team of Merrimack Valley institutions, including the University of Massachusetts (Lowell) and Triton BioSystems, are working to prepare the TNT system for human clinical trials, and expect to submit an application to the FDA in 2005.