# Exploitation of Antimicrobial Nanoparticles and Their Applications in Biomedical Engineering
###### Abstract  
Antibiotic resistance is a major threat to public health, which contributes largely to increased mortality rates and costs in hospitals. The severity and widespread nature of antibiotic resistance result in limited treatments to effectively combat antibiotic-resistant pathogens. Nanoparticles have different or enhanced properties in contrast to their bulk material, including antimicrobial efficacy towards a broad range of microorganisms. Their beneficial properties can be utilised in various bioengineering technologies. Thus, antimicrobial nanoparticles may provide an alternative to challenge antibiotic resistance. Currently, nanoparticles have been incorporated into materials, such as fibres, glass and pains. However, more research is required to elucidate the mechanisms of action fully and to advance biomedical applications further. This paper reviews the antimicrobial efficacies and the intrinsic properties of different metallic nanoparticles, their potential mechanisms of action against certain types of harmful pathogens and how these properties may be utilised in biomedical and healthcare products with the aim to reduce cross contaminations, disease transmissions and usage of antibiotics. antimicrobial; antibacterial; antifungal; nanomaterial; nanoparticle; bottom-up; top-down; minimum inhibitory concentration; biomedical and healthcare applications  
15 March 2021  
12 May 2021  
15 May 2021  
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**Cognition of Antimicrobial Nanoparticles and Their Applications in Biomedical Engineering. **  
**X.Y. deaths in the United States (US) alone, causing at least USD 20 billion costs in healthcare in 2019 [6]. This was also the reason for the increase in AMNP research which has been seen in the 20 th century (Figure 1--red line). Before the Covid-19 Pandemic, a slight decline in the prevalence of MRSA infections was reported due to the implementation of preventative measures. However, the issues over the rise in resistant bacteria were never resolved, and it is still a potential concern primarily due to the improper and overuse of antibiotics. Whilst the World Health Organisation (WHO) has introduced global plans to tackle antimicrobial resistance (AMR) [7], explorations of alternatives and new approaches to prevent disease transmissions through surface contaminations are still being urgently prioritised due to the Covid-19 situation. After the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) outbreak in 2004, an antiviral consortium was established by [PERSON] et al., where a range of antiviral nanomaterials was engineered using the Tesima(r) plasma process and found to effectively inhibit SARS viruses and avian H5N1 Influenza by 80-100% through direct contact [8; 9]. Certain nanomaterials (i.e., elemental Silver, Copper and their oxide derivatives) engineered using this process have recently been found also to exhibit antimicrobial activities against pathogenic bacteria, such as _Staphylococcus aureus_ (_S. aureus_) and _Pseudomonas aeruginosa_ (_P. aeruginosa_), which are commonly found in public settings and are responsible for many hospital-acquired infections (HAI) [10]. A recent study showed that these engineered nanomaterials can be embedded into polymer fibre and potentially be used for air/water filtration systems with the aim to prevent disease transmissions and so to reduce the demand for antibiotic utilities [11]. Although many AMNP derivatives have proven effective against one or many other pathogens, their mechanisms involved in microbial inactivation are not fully understood and have been debated in published articles [12; 13; 14; 15; 16]. Since there is a clear demand for nanomaterials for biomedical and healthcare applications, this paper first reviews different ways of obtaining the most common types of metallic/inorganic AMNPs (i.e., Ag, Cu, ZnO).