A battery-operated atmospheric-pressure plasma wand for biomedical applications

Summary form only given. A handheld, battery-operated atmospheric-pressure plasma rod (named plasma wand, Fig. 1) which does not rely on external power source (e.g., wall power or power generator) and gas supply is reported¹. The plasma wand can be used for killing bacteria, fungi, or viruses that are hidden in narrow channels such as nasal cavity and ear canal, which are difficult to access using most of currently available devices. Besides, the electrical characterization, plasma wand temperature, emission spectra of the plasma, ozone and OH radical concentration generated by the device, are investigated by different diagnostic methods. The temperature on the plasma wand stays at about 38°C after operating for about 5 minute and the outside electrode is grounded. So there is no feeling of hot or electrical shock at all when we hold the plasma wand. From the Lissajous-figure of the discharge, the power consumption is estimated to be about 12 W. The ozone concentration reaches 120 ppm at 1 mm away from the device and the OH concentration reaches 3.5×10¹⁴ cm^-3 in the plasma. The preliminary bacteria inactivation experiment results show that all bacteria samples on the microfiltration membrane are killed by this device within 30 s.