Abstract
'Plasma Healthcare' is an emerging interdisciplinary research topic of rapidly growing importance, exploring considerable opportunities at the interface of plasma physics, chemistry and engineering with life sciences. Some of the scientific discoveries reported so far have already demonstrated clear benefits for healthcare in areas of medicine, food safety, environmental hygiene, and cosmetics. Examples include ongoing studies of prion inactivation, chronic wound treatment and plasma-mediated cancer therapy. Current research ranges from basic physical processes, plasma chemical design, to the interaction of plasmas with (i) eukaryotic (mammalian) cells; (ii) prokaryotic (bacteria) cells, viruses, spores and fungi; (iii) DNA, lipids, proteins and cell membranes; and (iv) living human, animal and plant tissues in the presence of biofluids. Of diverse interests in this new field is the need for hospital disinfection, in particular with respect to the alarming increase in bacterial resistance to antibiotics, the concomitant needs in private practices, nursing homes etc, the applications in personal hygiene—and the enticing possibility to 'design' plasmas as possible pharmaceutical products, employing ionic as well as molecular agents for medical treatment. The 'delivery' of the reactive plasma agents occurs at the gaseous level, which means that there is no need for a carrier medium and access to the treatment surface is optimal. This focus issue provides a close look at the current state of the art in Plasma Medicine with a number of forefront research articles as well as an introductory review.
Focus on Plasma Medicine Contents
Application of epifluorescence scanning for monitoring the efficacy of protein removal by RF gas-plasma decontamination Helen C Baxter, Patricia R Richardson, Gaynor A Campbell, Valeri I Kovalev, Robert Maier, James S Barton, Anita C Jones, Greg DeLarge, Mark Casey and Robert L Baxter
Inactivation factors of spore-forming bacteria using low-pressure microwave plasmas in an N2 and O2 gas mixture M K Singh, A Ogino and M Nagatsu
Degradation of adhesion molecules of G361 melanoma cells by a non-thermal atmospheric pressure microplasma H J Lee, C H Shon, Y S Kim, S Kim, G C Kim and M G Kong
The acidification of lipid film surfaces by non-thermal DBD at atmospheric pressure in air A Helmke, D Hoffmeister, N Mertens, S Emmert, J Schuette and W Vioel
Reduction and degradation of amyloid aggregates by a pulsed radio-frequency cold atmospheric plasma jet D L Bayliss, J L Walsh, G Shama, F Iza and M G Kong
The effect of low-temperature plasma on bacteria as observed by repeated AFM imaging René Pompl, Ferdinand Jamitzky, Tetsuji Shimizu, Bernd Steffes, Wolfram Bunk, Hans-Ulrich Schmidt, Matthias Georgi, Katrin Ramrath, Wilhelm Stolz, Robert W Stark, Takuya Urayama, Shuitsu Fujii and Gregor Eugen Morfill
Removal and sterilization of biofilms and planktonic bacteria by microwave-induced argon plasma at atmospheric pressure Mi Hee Lee, Bong Joo Park, Soo Chang Jin, Dohyun Kim, Inho Han, Jungsung Kim, Soon O Hyun, Kie-Hyung Chung and Jong-Chul Park
Cell permeabilization using a non-thermal plasma M Leduc, D Guay, R L Leask and S Coulombe
Physical and biological mechanisms of direct plasma interaction with living tissue Danil Dobrynin, Gregory Fridman, Gary Friedman and Alexander Fridman
Nosocomial infections-a new approach towards preventive medicine using plasmas G E Morfill, T Shimizu, B Steffes and H-U Schmidt
Generation and transport mechanisms of chemical species by a post-discharge flow for inactivation of bacteria Takehiko Sato, Shiroh Ochiai and Takuya Urayama
Low pressure plasma discharges for the sterilization and decontamination of surfaces F Rossi, O Kylián, H Rauscher, M Hasiwa and D Gilliland
Contribution of a portable air plasma torch to rapid blood coagulation as a method of preventing bleeding S P Kuo, O Tarasenko, J Chang, S Popovic, C Y Chen, H W Fan, A Scott, M Lahiani, P Alusta, J D Drake and M Nikolic
A two-dimensional cold atmospheric plasma jet array for uniform treatment of large-area surfaces for plasma medicine QY Nie, Z Cao, C S Ren, D Z Wang and M G Kong
A novel plasma source for sterilization of living tissues E Martines, M Zuin, R Cavazzana, E Gazza, G Serianni, S Spagnolo, M Spolaore, A Leonardi, V Deligianni, P Brun, M Aragona, I Castagliuolo and P Brun
Designing plasmas for chronic wound disinfection T Nosenko, T Shimizu and G E Morfill
Plasma medicine: an introductory review M G Kong, G Kroesen, G Morfill, T Nosenko, T Shimizu, J van Dijk and J L Zimmermann
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