A novel nanosecond pulsed plasma brush for biomedical applications

The potential applications of non-equilibrium plasmas in biomedical fields are accelerating research efforts to explore and understand the physical and chemical processes responsible for their effectiveness. This work introduces and characterizes a non-equilibrium plasma “brush” for biomedical applications. The plasma electrodes consist of three parallel μm-thick sheets, a center high voltage electrode and two outer ground electrodes, which are separated by dielectric plates. Helium, argon, and dry air were individually evaluated as a carrier gas and were fed into the plasma chamber at a rate of 4 SLPM. The 3.5 cm in width, 75 μm in depth, and 1.5 to 4 cm in length (dependent on carrier gas) brush-shaped plasma plumes were generated in ambient air when 25 kV, 150 ns pulses were applied to the center active electrode at a pulse repetition rate of 500 Hz. Spatiotemporal optical emission spectroscopy was employed to evaluate the electronically excited species produced in the discharge as well as the rotational, vibrational, and electronic temperatures of the active species. Application of the cold plasma brush for surface decontamination was tested in a pilot study of plasma inactivation of two common nosocomial pathogens, Staphylococcus aureus and Acinetobacter baumaunnii.