Plasma for disinfection
BFU scientists have created a device that accelerates medical procedures using non-thermal plasma
BFU Press Service
Scientists of the Baltic Federal University named after I. Kant, together with colleagues from France and Colombia, conducted research that made it possible to create a compact device that accelerates medical procedures using non-thermal plasma.
Dmitry Shitz, Head of the Optical Radiation Laboratory of the I. Kant BFU:
Plasma is an ionized gas consisting of electrons and positively charged ions. There is a "cold plasma" characterized by a low temperature of its electrons. At the same time, the total or gas temperature, understood in the usual sense, can be high. For example, the plasma of a lit candle is considered cold, but its gas temperature exceeds 1,000 degrees Celsius. But it is also possible to obtain plasma when the temperature of the electrons remains high, and the temperature of the positive ions is quite low. For such plasma, the term "non-thermal" or "non-thermal" is used. Now there are many ways to generate non-thermal plasma with a gas temperature of 40 degrees Celsius, which can be used to treat skin and even open wounds without any pain.
(a) — a jet of helium plasma under short—pulse excitation, (b) - a three-channel plasma jet is directed at the fingers of the researcher.
Thanks to research in the laboratory of optical radiation of the I. Kant BFU, a compact device was developed capable of generating three jets of non—thermal plasma simultaneously, which provided a large plasma contact area of 1 sq. cm. This was achieved thanks to the special design of the electrode system and a special mode of ignition of the discharge.
"If we compare our device with analogues, then we can recall the PlasmaDerms VU-2010 device from the German company CINOGY GmbH or the Helios device from the Russian company NPC Plasma LLC, then the advantages of our device are obvious. Since these analog devices have plasma generated in the form of a thin needle, the contact area of the jet with the patient's skin does not exceed 3 sq. mm, besides, the helium consumption in our device is three times lower. A large plasma contact area is necessary to reduce the time of the physiotherapy procedure and reduce the consumption of working gas," Dmitry Shitz said.
A helium jet of non-thermal plasma contains a stream of charged particles, when interacting with air particles, chemically active radicals are produced, as well as ozone generation and short-wave ultraviolet radiation. All these factors can quickly and painlessly, without the use of antiseptics and antibiotics, destroy pathogenic bacteria or viruses and heal wounds. The unique ability of non-thermal plasma to rejuvenate the skin is also known.
Studies of optimal conditions for the generation of non-thermal plasma
Scientific research was required to develop new medical equipment that generates a flow of non-thermal plasma with the necessary characteristics.
In particular, BFU scientists with French colleagues were looking for optimal conditions in terms of minimum values of gas temperature and consumption of helium used as a working gas. During several scientific visits to the Laplace laboratory of the National Polytechnic Institute of Toulouse, a unique research facility was developed, which automatically allowed recording more than a dozen parameters of the generated plasma simultaneously.
Dmitry Shitz, Head of the Optical Radiation Laboratory of the I. Kant BFU:
Analyzing the obtained array of experimental data, we were able to identify the conditions for obtaining the optimal mode of generation of a non-thermal plasma jet. The plasma flow can be characterized by its geometric dimensions and some parameters of the plasma itself, the main of which is the electron concentration. Therefore, the second work was devoted to the development of a contactless and automated method for estimating the concentration of electrons in the generated flow of non-thermal plasma. The development of an optical method for the diagnosis of gas-discharge plasma was carried out in the Laboratory of Coherent Optical Measuring Systems of BFU under the supervision of the head of the Laboratory of Coherent Optical Measuring Systems Igor Alekseenko. The laser beam passed through a jet of non-thermal plasma and numerous elements of the optical scheme of the installation and fell into the lens of a digital camera. Thus, an interference pattern was obtained, where the electron concentration and its distribution over the volume of the plasma jet were estimated by the distance between the bands and their shape.
The results of scientific research are published in the authoritative scientific publications Plasma and Applicedscience of the MDPI journal (Switzerland). The research was attended by employees of the BFU Optical Radiation Laboratory Dmitry Shitz and Anton Ivankov, researchers of the BFU Coherent Optical Measurement Systems Laboratory Igor Alekseenko and Anastasia Kozhevnikova, as well as colleagues from the National Polytechnic Institute of Toulouse, LAPLACE Laboratory and S. Arboleda University (Universidad Sergio Arboleda), Bogota, Colombia.
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