Tiny Cold Atmospheric Plasma Jet for Biomedical Applications

Abstract

Conventional plasma jets for biomedical applications tend to have several drawbacks, such as high voltages, high gas delivery, large plasma probe volume, and the formation of discharge within the organ. Therefore, it is challenging to employ these jets inside a living organism’s body. Thus, we developed a single-electrode tiny plasma jet and evaluated its use for clinical biomedical applications. We investigated the effect of voltage input and flow rate on the jet length and studied the physical parameters of the plasma jet, including discharge voltage, average gas and subject temperature, and optical emissions via spectroscopy (OES). The interactions between the tiny plasma jet and five subjects (de-ionized (DI) water, metal, cardboard, pork belly, and pork muscle) were studied at distances of 10 mm and 15 mm from the jet nozzle. The results showed that the tiny plasma jet caused no damage or burning of tissues, and the ROS/RNS (reactive oxygen/nitrogen species) intensity increased when the distance was lowered from 15 mm to 10 mm. These initial observations establish the tiny plasma jet device as a potentially useful tool in clinical biomedical applications.

Cold atmospheric plasma for addressing the COVID‐19 pandemic

“…The efficacy of CAP in microbial killing is due to its capability to generate bioactive species, such as electrons, charged particles and molecules, reactive oxygen species (ROS), reactive nitrogen species (RNS), and free radicals, and to control physical phenomena, including electromagnetic fields, physical forces, and electric fields. [ 48 , 49 , 50 ] In addition to its potential benefits in infection control and wound healing, CAP has also been applied in studies directed at hemostasis control, treating skin diseases, immunotherapy, and regenerative medicine. [ 51 ] Most notably for COVID‐19‐related applications, CAP has been shown to inactivate viruses through in situ production of ROS and RNS.…”

Experimental determination of first Townsend ionization coefficient in mixtures of He and N2

“…Cold atmospheric pressure plasma jets (APPJs) have been extensively investigated over the past decades [1][2][3][4]. The primary motivation lies in the applicability of APPJs in biomedicine [5][6][7][8][9][10][11] where it is imperative that factors affecting the plasma properties and the production of reactive oxygen and nitrogen species (RONS) [12] are known. APPJs excited with kHz frequency pulsed or sinusoidal voltage are operated in a stream of noble gas (typically He or Ar) [13,14] and consist of temporally short ionization waves [15][16][17].…”

Self‐enhanced plasma brush for therapeutic use in dermatology and its safety assessment

“…The reactive oxygen species (ROS) and reactive nitrogen species (RNS) have high chemical activity and play an important role in the medical effect (e.g., sterilization, cell proliferation, and killing) of plasma. [ 34 ]…”

“…[ 32 ] In biomedical applications, the discharge intensity, concentration of the ions as well as electric field, which could be influenced by the load property, would affect the final therapeutic effects. [ 33–35 ] Therefore, the load effect when having human contact is an important aspect in the plasma medicine field. For the plasma source that the treating object could be placed at position tens of millimeters to the electrode, the reactive species will dissipate to some extent outside the reactor, and the electric fields decay exponentially from the electrodes.…”