Microwave plasma torch for wound treatment

Abstract

Cold atmospheric pressure plasma (CAP) sources have recently been proven to be an effective therapeutic source regarding wound healing. The most preferred and used plasma devices at this moment are the well-known dielectric barrier discharges (DBD) and free jet devices. In this work, we studied a low temperature plasma torch at atmospheric pressure sustained by a travelling electromagnetic wave excited by surfatron type wave launcher coupled to solid state microwave generator. This plasma source allows variation of discharge conditions: geometric parameters (discharge tube inner diameter and thickness), wave power and gas flow velocity which varies the main plasma parameters (length, gas temperature, concentration of charged particles and reactive species, UV and microwave radiation). Appropriate combination of the parameters lead to the low temperature plasma torch obtaining a gas temperature up to 30–37°C, suitable for in vivo treatment of BALB-C mouse models. The purpose of this research is to study the discharge conditions leading to acceleration of wound healing at short treatment times with relatively low gas flow and microwave power