Future applications of nanomedicine will be based on the ability to build nanorobots. In the future these nanorobots could actually be programmed to repair specific diseased cells, functioning in a similar way to antibodies in our natural healing processes.
Design analysis for a cell repair nanorobot: The Ideal Gene Delivery Vector: Chromallocytes, Cell Repair Nanorobots for Chromosome Repair Therapy
Design analysis for an antimicrobial nanorobot: Microbivores: Artifical Mechanical Phagocytes using Digest and Discharge Protocol
A Mechanical Artificial Red Cell: Exploratory Design in Medical Nanotechnology
The elimination of bacterial infections in a patient within minutes, instead of using treatment with antibiotics over a period of weeks.
The ability to perform surgery at the cellular level, removing individual diseased cells and even repairing defective portions of individual cells.
Significant lengthening of the human lifespan by repairing cellular level conditions that cause the body to age.
An online copy of volume one of the book Nanomedicine by Robert Freitas.
Chapter 7: "Engines of Healing" from the book Engines of Creation, The Coming Era of Nanotechnology by Eric Drexler
For a fun, fictionalized account of miniaturized medicine rent the 1966 movie Fantastic Voyage, or read the novelization of the movie by Isaac Asimov.
Institute of Robotics and Intelligent Systems
Nanomedicine Center for Nucleoprotein Machines
In about 20 years researchers plan to have the capability to build an object atom by atom or molecule by molecule. Molecular manufacturing, also called molecular nanotechnology will provide the ability to build the nanorobots needed for future applications of nanomedicine.