Alexander Fridman

Physical and biological mechanisms of direct plasma interaction with living tissue

Mechanisms of plasma interaction with living tissues and cells can be quite complex, owing to the complexity of both the plasma and the tissue. Thus, unification of all the mechanisms under one umbrella might not be possible. However, the authors are attempting to make first steps in this direction. In this paper, analysis of interaction of floating electrode dielectric barrier discharge (FE-DBD) with living tissues and cells is presented and biological and physical mechanisms are discussed. In physical mechanisms, charged species are identified as the major contributors to the desired effect and a mechanism of this interaction is proposed. Biological mechanisms are also addressed and a hypothesis of plasma selectivity and its effects is offered.

Porcine intact and wounded skin responses to atmospheric nonthermal plasma

Thermal plasma is a valued tool in surgery for its coagulative and ablative properties. We suggested through inxa0vitro studies that nonthermal plasma can sterilize tissues, inactive pathogens, promote coagulation, and potentiate wound healing. The present research was undertaken to study acute toxicity in porcine skin tissues. We demonstrate that floating electrode-discharge barrier discharge (FE-DBD) nonthermal plasma is electrically safe to apply to living organisms for short periods. We investigated the effects of FE-DBD plasma on Yorkshire pigs on intact and wounded skin immediately after treatment or 24h posttreatment. Macroscopic or microscopic histological changes were identified using histological and immunohistochemical techniques. The changes were classified into four groups for intact skin: normal features, minimal changes or congestive changes, epidermal layer damage, and full burn and into three groups for wounded skin: normal, clot or scab, and full burn-like features. Immunohistochemical staining for laminin layer integrity showed compromise over time. A marker for double-stranded DNA breaks, γ-H2AX, increased over plasma-exposure time. These findings identified a threshold for plasma exposure of up to 900s at low power and <120s at high power. Nonthermal FE-DBD plasma can be considered safe for future studies of external use under these threshold conditions for evaluation of sterilization, coagulation, and wound healing.

Theoretical study of the initial stage of sub-nanosecond pulsed breakdown in liquid dielectrics

This paper presents a simple theoretical analysis of the initial stage of a sub-nanosecond pulsed high-voltage breakdown in liquid dielectrics. We show that a rapid breakdown is related to a rupture in the continuity of fluid induced by the electrostrictive forces in the inhomogeneous electric field in the vicinity of a needle electrode.

Treatment of raw poultry with nonthermal dielectric barrier discharge plasma to reduce Campylobacter jejuni and Salmonella enterica.

Nonthermal plasma has been shown to be effective in reducing pathogens on the surface of a range of fresh produce products. The research presented here investigated the effectiveness of nonthermal dielectric barrier discharge plasma on Salmonella enterica and Campylobacter jejuni inoculated onto the surface of boneless skinless chicken breast and chicken thigh with skin. Chicken samples were inoculated with antibiotic-resistant strains of S. enterica and C. jejuni at levels of 10(1) to 10(4) CFU and exposed to plasma for a range of time points (0 to 180 s in 15-s intervals). Surviving antibiotic-resistant pathogens were recovered and counted on appropriate agar. In order to determine the effect of plasma on background microflora, noninoculated skinless chicken breast and thighs with skin were exposed to air plasma at ambient pressure. Treatment with plasma resulted in elimination of low levels (10(1) CFU) of both S. enterica and C. jejuni on chicken breasts and C. jejuni from chicken skin, but viable S. enterica cells remained on chicken skin even after 20 s of exposure to plasma. Inoculum levels of 10(2), 10(3), and 10(4) CFU of S. enterica on chicken breast and chicken skin resulted in maximum reduction levels of 1.85, 2.61, and 2.54 log, respectively, on chicken breast and 1.25, 1.08, and 1.31 log, respectively, on chicken skin following 3 min of plasma exposure. Inoculum levels of 10(2), 10(3), and 10(4) CFU of C. jejuni on chicken breast and chicken skin resulted in maximum reduction levels of 1.65, 2.45, and 2.45 log, respectively, on chicken breast and 1.42, 1.87, and 3.11 log, respectively, on chicken skin following 3 min of plasma exposure. Plasma exposure for 30 s reduced background microflora on breast and skin by an average of 0.85 and 0.21 log, respectively. This research demonstrates the feasibility of nonthermal dielectric barrier discharge plasma as an intervention to help reduce foodborne pathogens on the surface of raw poultry.

Cold Plasma Inactivation of Bacillus cereus and Bacillus anthracis (Anthrax) Spores

Bacillus spores represent one of the most resistant organisms to conventional sterilization methods. This paper is focused on the inactivation of the spores of two Bacillus species, Bacillus cereus and Bacillus anthracis, using atmospheric-pressure dielectric-barrier-discharge (DBD) plasma. Spores treated in liquid or air-dried on a solid surface were effectively inactivated within 1 min of DBD plasma treatment at a discharge power of 0.3 W/cm2. Results of a series of model experiments show that neutral reactive oxygen species and UV radiation play a dominant role in the inactivation of spores. We also show that 45 s of the DBD plasma treatment of air-dried spores placed inside closed plastic or paper envelopes permits up to 7 log reduction of viable spores.

Reactive Oxygen and Nitrogen Species Production and Delivery Into Liquid Media by Microsecond Thermal Spark-Discharge Plasma Jet

The microsecond spark discharge plasma jet is experimentally analyzed, experimentally and numerical modeling is performed. It is shown that discharge appears as a the number of microdischarges resulting in the average gas temperature of the jet of about 40 ^°C-50 ^°C. Fast imaging and numerical modeling are performed in order to study the discharge development on both microsecond and nanosecond time scales. The biochemical study of the production and the delivery of reactive oxygen and nitrogen species ( H₂O₂, NO, O₂^-, “singlet” oxygen, and ONOO-) into liquid phase is performed using fluorescent dyes.

Investigation of positive and negative modes of nanosecond pulsed discharge in water and electrostriction model of initiation

This work investigates the development of nanosecond pulsed discharges in water ignited with the application of both positive and negative polarity pulses to submerged pin-to-plane electrodes. Optical diagnostics are used to study two main aspects of these discharges: the initiation phase, and the development phase. Nanosecond pulses up to 24 kV with 4 ns rise time, 10 ns duration and 5 ns fall time are used to ignite discharges in a 1.5 mm gap between a copper plate and a tungsten needle with radius of curvature of 25 µm. Fast ICCD imaging is used to trace the discharge development over varying applied pulse amplitudes for both positively and negatively applied pulses to the pin electrode. The discharge is found to progress similar to that of discharges in long gaps—long sparks—in gases, both in structure and development. The more important initiation phase is investigated via schlieren transmission imaging. The region near the tip of the electrode is investigated for slightly under-breakdown conditions, and changes in the liquids refractive index and density are observed over the duration of the applied pulse. An attempt to explain the results is made based on the electrostriction model of discharge initiation.

Initiation stage of nanosecond breakdown in liquid

In this paper, based on a theoretical model (Shneider and Pekker 2013 Phys. Rev. E 87 043004), it has been shown experimentally that the initial stage of development of a nanosecond breakdown in liquids is associated with the appearance of discontinuities in the liquid (cavitation) under the influence of electrostriction forces. Comparison of experimentally measured area dimensions and its temporal development were found to be in a good agreement with the theoretical calculations. This work is a continuation of the experimental and theoretical works (Dobrynin et al 2013 J. Phys. D: Appl. Phys. 46 105201, Starikovskiy 2013 Plasma Sources Sci. Technol. 22 012001, Seepersad et al 2013 J. Phys. D: Appl. Phys. 46 162001, Marinov et al 2013 Plasma Sources Sci. Technol. 22 042001, Seepersad et al 2013 J. Phys. D: Appl. Phys. 46 3555201), initiated by the work in (Shneider et al 2012 IEEE Trans. Dielectr. Electr. Insul. 19 1597–82), in which the electrostriction mechanism of breakdown was proposed.

Uniform and non-uniform modes of nanosecond-pulsed dielectric barrier discharge in atmospheric air: fast imaging and spectroscopic measurements of electric fields

In this study, we report experimental results on fast ICCD imaging of development of nanosecond-pulsed dielectric barrier discharge (DBD) in atmospheric air and spectroscopic measurements of electric field in the discharge. Uniformity of the discharge images obtained with nanosecond exposure times were analyzed using chi-square test. The results indicate that DBD uniformity strongly depends on applied (global) electric field in the discharge gap, and is a threshold phenomenon. We show that in the case of strong overvoltage on the discharge gap (provided by fast rise times), there is transition from filamentary to uniform DBD mode which correlates to the corresponding decrease of maximum local electric field in the discharge.

Plasma Bullets Propagation Inside of Agarose Tissue Model

This paper demonstrates plasma bullets generated by microsecond pulses in He flow propagation inside of conductive agarose gel tubes mimicking tissue. The objective of this paper is to understand the possibility of internal diseases treatment (e.g., lung or intestinal cancer) using plasma jets. The propagation dynamics is studied using fast imaging technique, and production of reactive species is demonstrated both in gas phase (using optical emission spectroscopy) and inside of the agarose gel (using fluorescent dye). In addition, it is demonstrated that plasma bullets may propagate not only in a straight tubes, but also in L-shaped tubes, as well as be split in T-shaped tubes. All these facts offer an indication of possible successful application of plasma bullets for treatment of internal diseases, for example, lung cancers or intestinal diseases.