Keigo Takeda

Plasma Medical Science for Cancer Therapy: Toward Cancer Therapy Using Nonthermal Atmospheric Pressure Plasma

We have been developing novel ultrahigh density atmospheric pressure plasma sources and succeeded in the selective killing ovarian cancer cells against normal ones. Furthermore, we have found out the plasma-activated medium (PAM) also killed glioblastoma brain tumor cells selectively against normal ones and the chemical products in the PAM have long lifetime healing effects. To clarify the mechanism, interactions of plasma with the organism and the medium where the organism belongs were investigated on the viewpoint of intracellular molecular mechanism.

Inactivation of Penicillium digitatum Spores by a High-Density Ground-State Atomic Oxygen-Radical Source Employing an Atmospheric-Pressure Plasma

Penicillium digitatum spores were inactivated using an oxygen-radical source that supplies only neutral oxygen radicals. Vacuum ultraviolet absorption spectroscopy was used to measure the ground-state atomic oxygen [O (3Pj)] densities and they were estimated to be in the range of 1014–1015 cm-3. The inactivation rate of P. digitatum spores was correlated with the O (3Pj) density. The result indicates that O (3Pj) is the dominant species in the inactivation. The inactivation rate constant of P. digitatum spores by O (3Pj) was estimated to be on the order of 10-17 cm3 s-1 from the measured O (3Pj) densities and inactivation rates.

Non-thermal atmospheric pressure plasma activates lactate in Ringer’s solution for anti-tumor effects

Non-thermal atmospheric pressure plasma is a novel approach for wound healing, blood coagulation, and cancer therapy. A recent discovery in the field of plasma medicine is that non-thermal atmospheric pressure plasma not only directly but also indirectly affects cells via plasma-treated liquids. This discovery has led to the use of non-thermal atmospheric pressure plasma as a novel chemotherapy. We refer to these plasma-treated liquids as plasma-activated liquids. We chose Ringer’s solutions to produce plasma-activated liquids for clinical applications. In vitro and in vivo experiments demonstrated that plasma-activated Ringer’s lactate solution has anti-tumor effects, but of the four components in Ringer’s lactate solution, only lactate exhibited anti-tumor effects through activation by non-thermal plasma. Nuclear magnetic resonance analyses indicate that plasma irradiation generates acetyl and pyruvic acid-like groups in Ringer’s lactate solution. Overall, these results suggest that plasma-activated Ringer’s lactate solution is promising for chemotherapy.

Langmuir probe and optical emission spectroscopy studies in magnetron sputtering plasmas for Al-doped ZnO film deposition

This work reports investigation of the Al-doped ZnO (AZO) film deposition process, at different working pressures, in a conventional magnetron sputtering system. The primary goal of this study is to investigate the plasma formation and deposition process using various diagnostic tools, by utilizing low-temperature deposition process. In addition, this paper also presents a systematic Langmuir probe (LP) analysis procedure to determine the maximum information about plasma parameters. For the present study, we have extensively used LP method to characterize the deposition process for the control of plasma parameters. Along with the LP method, we have also used optical emission spectroscopy diagnostic to examine the favorable deposition condition for the fabrication of conductive AZO film. Utilizing diagnostics, this also reports measurements of ion current density, substrate temperature, and deposition rates to fabricate low resistivity films of ∼3 mΩ cm.

Inactivation effects of neutral reactive-oxygen species on Penicillium digitatum spores using non-equilibrium atmospheric-pressure oxygen radical source

The effectiveness of atomic and excited molecular oxygen species at inactivating Penicillium digitatum spores was quantitatively investigated by measuring these species and evaluating the spore inactivation rate. To avoid the effects of ultraviolet light and charged species, a non-equilibrium atmospheric-pressure radical source, which supplies only neutral radicals, was employed. Ground-state atomic oxygen (O(3Pj)) and excited molecular oxygen (O2(1Δg)) species were measured using vacuum ultraviolet absorption spectroscopy. The inactivation rate of spores was evaluated using the colony count method. The lifetimes of O(3Pj) and O2(1Δg) in an argon gas ambient at atmospheric pressure were found to be about 0.5 ms and much more than tens of ms, and their spore inactivation rates were about 10−17 cm3 s−1 and much lower than 10−21 cm3 s−1, respectively.

Roles of oxidizing species in a nonequilibrium atmospheric-pressure pulsed remote O2/N2 plasma glass cleaning process

Atmospheric pressure plasma treatments have attracted attention for various application processes. The effect of O2 additions below 0.2% to N2 was investigated for the efficiency of removing organic contaminants on a glass surface using nonequilibrium atmospheric-pressure pulsed plasma. A remarkably high efficiency of cleaning was obtained by a plasma treatment with ca. 0.03% O2 additions to N2. The concentration of ozone (O3) and the ground-state oxygen radical [O(P32)] were measured using ultraviolet absorption spectroscopy and vacuum ultraviolet laser absorption spectroscopy, respectively. It was found that the key factors for surface cleaning were the scission of carbon bonds due to ultraviolet irradiation and subsequent oxidation due to O(P3), and that the surface cleaning proceeded in broad areas due to the photodissociation of O3.

Real-time in situ electron spin resonance measurements on fungal spores of Penicillium digitatum during exposure of oxygen plasmas

We report the kinetic analysis of free radicals on fungal spores of Penicillium digitatum interacted with atomic oxygen generated plasma electric discharge using real time in situ electron spin resonance (ESR) measurements. We have obtained information that the ESR signal from the spores was observed and preliminarily assignable to semiquinone radical with a g-value of around 2.004 and a line width of approximately 5G. The decay of the signal is possibly linked to the inactivation of the fungal spore. The real-time in situ ESR has proven to be a useful method to elucidate plasma-induced surface reactions on biological specimens.

Development of atomic radical monitoring probe and its application to spatial distribution measurements of H and O atomic radical densities in radical-based plasma processing

Atomic radicals such as hydrogen (H) and oxygen (O) play important roles in process plasmas. In a previous study, we developed a system for measuring the absolute density of H, O, nitrogen, and carbon atoms in plasmas using vacuum ultraviolet absorption spectroscopy (VUVAS) with a compact light source using an atmospheric pressure microplasma [microdischarge hollow cathode lamp (MHCL)]. In this study, we developed a monitoring probe for atomic radicals employing the VUVAS with the MHCL. The probe size was 2.7 mm in diameter. Using this probe, only a single port needs to be accessed for radical density measurements. We successfully measured the spatial distribution of the absolute densities of H and O atomic radicals in a radical-based plasma processing system by moving the probe along the radial direction of the chamber. This probe allows convenient analysis of atomic radical densities to be carried out for any type of process plasma at any time. We refer to this probe as a ubiquitous monitoring probe for atomic radicals.

Mechanism of plasma-induced damage to low-k SiOCH films during plasma ashing of organic resists

Plasma-induced damage to porous SiOCH (p-SiOCH) films during organic resist film ashing using dual-frequency capacitively coupled O2 plasmas was investigated using the pallet for plasma evaluation method developed by our group. The damage was characterized by ellipsometry and Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy. Individual and synergetic damage associated with vacuum ultraviolet (VUV) and UV radiation, radicals, and ions in the O2 plasma were clarified. It was found that the damage was caused not only by radicals but also by synergetic reactions of radicals with VUV and UV radiation emitted by the plasmas. It is noteworthy that the damage induced by plasma exposure without ion bombardment was larger than the damage with ion bombardment. These results differed from those obtained using an H2/N2 plasma for resist ashing. Finally, the mechanism of damage to p-SiOCH caused by O2 and H2/N2 plasma ashing of organic resist films is discussed. These results are very important in understanding the mechanism of...

Laser Scattering Diagnosis of a 60-Hz Non-Equilibrium Atmospheric Pressure Plasma Jet

A non-equilibrium atmospheric pressure plasma jet excited by 60-Hz ac power was diagnosed by laser Thomson and laser Raman scattering. We obtained the spatial distributions of the electron density, electron temperature, and gas temperature. The results show that the plasma can generate an electron density of up to 1021 m-3, an electron temperature of approximately 1 eV, and a gas temperature as low as approximately 700 K, indicating that the plasma is in the non-equilibrium state. The laser scattering diagnostic method and the obtained data are useful in the application of the non-equilibrium atmospheric pressure plasma jet.