Progress in nanotechnology has enabled us to open many new fronts in biomedical research
by exploiting the peculiar properties of materials at the nanoscale. The thermal sensitivity of certain
materials is a highly valuable property because it can be exploited in many promising applications,
such as thermo-sensitive drug or gene delivery systems, thermotherapy, thermal biosensors, imaging,
and diagnosis. This review focuses on recent advances in thermo-sensitive nanomaterials of interest
in biomedical applications. We provide an overview of the different kinds of thermoresponsive
nanomaterials, discussing their potential and the physical mechanisms behind their thermal response.
We thoroughly review their applications in biomedicine and finally discuss the current challenges
and future perspectives of thermal therapies.This research was supported by the Fundación Mutua Madrileña (project FMM-AP16683-2017),
Consejería de Salud Junta de Andalucía (PI-0089-2017), Instituto de Salud Carlos III (FEDER funds PIE16/00045),
MINECO MAT2015-63644-C2-R, MAT 2016-78778-R, PCIN-2015-051 projects (Spain), European Regional
Development Fund (ERDF) and from the Chair “Doctors Galera-Requena in cancer stem cell research”