Disease limits soldier readiness and creates healthcare costs and logistics burdens. Diagnosing and treating disease faster can help limit its impact. Current technologies and products for diagnosing disease are principally relegated to in vitro (in the lab) medical devices, which are often expensive, bulky and fragile.

DARPA’s In Vivo Nanoplatforms (IVN) program seeks to develop new classes of adaptable nanoparticles for persistent, distributed, unobtrusive physiologic and environmental sensing as well as the treatment of physiologic abnormalities, illness and infectious disease.

The IVN Diagnostics (IVN:Dx) program effort aims to develop a generalized in vivo platform that provides continuous physiological monitoring for the warfighter. Specifically, IVN:Dx will investigate technologies that may provide:

Implantable nanoplatforms using bio-compatible and nontoxic materials
In vivo sensing of small and large molecules of biological interest
Multiplexed detection of analytes at clinically relevant concentrations
External interrogation of the nanoplatform free from any implanted communications electronics
Complete system demonstration in a large animal

The IVN Therapeutics (IVN:Tx) program effort will seek unobtrusive nanoplatforms for rapidly treating disease in warfighters.

The IVN:Dx BAA was released in March, 2012. A solicitation for developing IVN:Tx technologies is expected to be released in Fall, 2012.

DARPA:Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency美国国防部先进研究项目局

IVN:In Vivo Nanoplatforms

疾病限制着部队对伤病医疗开销的预备和生产，并给物流带来负担。疾病诊断与治疗的加速能够缓解这种限制带来的影响。目前，绝大部分科技以及疾病诊断产品都被应用于实验室医疗仪器中，这些设备太过昂贵、笨重与脆弱。

美国国防部先进研究项目局在人体纳米平台项目上探求发展一些适应性纳米粒子，并建立一套持续的、分布式的、不显眼的胜利和环境感知系统，并以此进行对生理异常、疾病以及感染进行治疗。

人体纳米平台诊断项目致力于发展一套普遍型的人体平台，为战士们提供一个持续的生理监控。这个项目将提供以下技术：

用生物兼容且无毒的材质做成的可植入纳米平台；

对生物学意义上不同尺寸分子的人体感应；

在临床相关研究上采取的多重分析性研究；

不带任何植入式交流电子器件的外部讯问；

对大型动物进行全套系统的试用。

人体纳米平台医疗项目致力于寻找微小纳米平台以迅速治疗处在病痛中的战士。

人体纳米平台诊断项目在2012年启动。一场为发展人体医疗科技为主题的演讲将在2012年秋天举行。