Blood coagulation and living tissue sterilization by floating-electrode dielectric barrier discharge in air

Preferential induction of apoptotic cell death in melanoma cells as compared with normal keratinocytes using a non-thermal plasma torch

“…It is particularly significant because the keratinocytes, which are only slightly affected by the plasma, constitute the primary component of the human epidermis. 28 While the well-established uses for non-thermal plasma include wound healing 2 and sterilization through selective killing of bacteria, 5 recent uses for plasma as an antitumor agent are currently under investigation. A jet-type cold plasma causes cell death of liver cancer cells 29 and extensive studies have been done with DBD plasma therapy on melanoma cells including direct treatment in mice whereby multiple rapid pulses are given to cause electrodeformation of the cells which opens pores and disrupts cellular membranes.…”

“…30,31 DBD has also been shown to cause apoptotic cell death with 25% apoptosis by 24 h and 72% following 3 d with cellular changes such as membrane blebbing. 2 The NTP torch modified and used in this study has the advantage of increased versatility Cell culture. Premetastatic WM793B melanoma cells were utilized as well as a cell line established from a lung metastasis of these cells, 1205Lu.…”

“…1 Currently, this type of plasma is the focus of investigations for its potential role in wound healing, 2 tissue incision, 3 protein destruction, cell and tissue modification, 4 bacterial inactivation 5 as well as cancer treatment. 6,7 Non-thermal plasma (NTP) is an ionized gas with electron densities of 10 11 -10 14 (1/cm 3 ) and typical energies of 1-5 (eV).…”

“…To achieve this goal, a nonthermal helium plasma torch was modified for use on cultured cells in a temperature-controlled environment. Melanoma cells were targeted with this torch (1) in parallel cultures with keratinocytes, (2) in co-culture with keratinocytes and (3) in a soft agar matrix. Melanoma cells displayed high sensitivity to reactive oxygen species generated by the torch and showed a 6-fold increase in cell death compared with keratinocytes.…”

Applicability of the dielectric barrier discharge for helium ash measurements in the divertor region

“…[4,5]) or sterilisation of the surfaces in medicine (e.g. [6,7]). This type of discharge was also applied as an excitation source in study of the atomic spectra and determination of the atomic constants, especially for the rare earth elements, e.g.…”