In-vivo biomedical applications of plasmas

Plasma medicine is a recently born branch of plasma physics. It is concerned with the use of plasmas (ionized gases) for the medical treatment of living matter.

At Consorzio RFX we have developed a low power plasma source operating at atmospheric pressure, which was specifically designed for this kind of application. The source, for which an international patent application has been filed, produces a flow of helium which thanks to the effect of the plasma is enriched with free radicals and other chemical species. These chemicals attack the external membrane of bacteria, causing their death, without appreciable damage to the cells composing the treated substrate, thanks to their anti-oxidative and self-healing capabilities.

A possible application, presently under study, is the treatment of the eye surface, both for pre-surgery disinfection and for the treatment of corneal infections, which are sometimes difficult to treat and can lead in the worst cases to the total loss of sight.

Essential bibliography

E. Martines, M. Zuin, R. Cavazzana, E. Gazza, G. Serianni, S. Spagnolo, M. Spolaore, A. Leonardi, V. Deligianni, P. Brun, M. Aragona, I. Castagliuolo, P. Brun, A novel plasma source for sterilization of living tissues, New Journal of Physics 11, 115014 (2009).

A. Leonardi, V. Deligianni, E. Martines, M. Zuin, R. Cavazzana, G. Serianni, M. Spolaore, Plasma device for treating living tissues, international patent n. WO 2009/043925, published on 9 April 2009.