Yukinori Sakiyama

Cold Atmospheric Plasma: Charged Species and Their Interactions With Cells and Tissues

Cold atmospheric plasma (CAP) treatment of living tissues becomes a popular topic in modern plasma physics and in medical sciences. The plasma is capable of bacterial inactivation and noninflammatory tissue modification, which makes it an attractive tool for wound healing and the treatment of skin diseases and dental caries. There are still many open issues with regard to the mechanisms of action of the plasma on bacteria and mammalian cells and tissues, both from the biological and the physical perspective. For example, the chemistry of CAP and the exact roles of various plasma constituents in tissue treatment are not yet fully resolved. In this paper, we shall concentrate on the charged species (electrons and ions) in the plasma. The selected physical properties of typical atmospheric plasma sources will be discussed; experiments will be confronted with theoretical considerations, and several biomedical aspects of CAP treatment will be surveyed.

Long-term antibacterial efficacy of air plasma-activated water

Indirect air dielectric barrier discharge in close proximity to water creates an acidified, nitrogen-oxide containing solution known as plasma-activated water (PAW), which remains antibacterial for several days. Suspensions of E. coli were exposed to PAW for either 15 min or 3 h over a 7-day period after PAW generation. Both exposure times yielded initial antibacterial activity corresponding to a ~5-log reduction in cell viability, which decreased at differing rates over 7 days to negligible activity and a 2.4-log reduction for 15 min and 3 h exposures, respectively. The solution remained at pH ~2.7 for this period and initially included hydrogen peroxide, nitrate and nitrite anions. The solution composition varied significantly over this time, with hydrogen peroxide and nitrite diminishing within a few days, during which the antibacterial efficacy of 15 min exposures decreased significantly, while that of 3 h exposures produced a 5-log reduction or more. These results highlight the complexity of PAW solutions where multiple chemical components exert varying biological effects on differing time scales.

Plasma chemistry model of surface microdischarge in humid air and dynamics of reactive neutral species

We present a numerical model of a surface microdischarge (SMD) in humid air at atmospheric pressure. Our model includes over 50 species and 600 elementary reactions and consists of two, coupled well-mixed regions: a discharge layer with both charged and neutral species and an afterglow region consisting only of neutral species. Multiple time steps employed in our model enable capturing rapid dynamic behaviour in the discharge layer as well as the relatively slow diffusion and reaction in the afterglow. A short duration, high electric field is assumed to be excited at 10 kHz in the discharge region with power density maintained at 0.05 W cm−2. Among the predicted dominant species in the afterglow are O3, N2O5, N2O, HNO3, H2, NO3, H2O2, HNO2 and NO2. The results are in qualitative agreement with Fourier transform infrared absorption spectroscopy. Our simulation results show that density of those reactive species continues to evolve significantly in time, even after ~15 min of SMD exposure. This result suggests that SMD treatments on the order of minutes or less may involve significant neutral species concentration and flux transients, potentially affecting interpretation of results.

Ozone correlates with antibacterial effects from indirect air dielectric barrier discharge treatment of water

Ambient-condition air plasma produced by indirect dielectric barrier discharges can rapidly disinfect aqueous solutions contaminated with bacteria and other microorganisms. In this study, we measured key chemical species in plasma-treated aqueous solutions and the associated antimicrobial effect for varying discharge power densities, exposure times, and buffer components in the aqueous medium. The aqueous chemistry corresponded to air plasma chemistry, and we observed a transition in composition from ozone mode to nitrogen oxides mode as the discharge power density increased. The inactivation of E. coli correlates well with the aqueous-phase ozone concentration, suggesting that ozone is the dominant species for bacterial inactivation under these conditions. Published values of ozone-water antibacterial inactivation kinetics as a function of the product of ozone concentration and contact time are consistent with our results. In contrast to earlier studies of plasma-treated water disinfection, ozone-dependent bacterial inactivation does not require acidification of the aqueous medium and the bacterial inactivation rates are far higher. Furthermore, we show that the antimicrobial effect depends strongly on gas-liquid mixing following plasma treatment, apparently because of the low solubility of ozone and the slow rate of mass transfer from the gas phase to the liquid. Without thorough mixing of the ozone-containing gas and bacteria-laden water, the antimicrobial effect will not be observed. However, it should be recognized that the complexity of atmospheric pressure plasma devices, and their sensitivity to subtle differences in design and operation, can lead to different results with different mechanisms.

Finite element analysis of ring-shaped emission profile in plasma bullet

In this study, we focus on the mechanisms of ring-shaped emission patterns observed in a plasma bullet.1: Our model is based on a fluid model with the local field approximation in ID cylindrical coordinates, corresponding to a cross-section of a plasma bullet. An expected concentration gradient of humid air is assumed to be present due to diffusion of air into helium gas flow. The current model is almost identical to our previous report2. The major difference is that uniform pulselike electric field is given perpendicular to the simulation domain. The pulse width and repetition rate are determined based on experimental conditions. The magnitude of the electric field was chosen so that a periodic steady state solution can be obtained. We also performed spectroscopic measurements to investigate the structure of the plasma bullets and to compare with the simulation results. Figure 1 shows comparison of spatially-resolved emission profiles from nitrogen second positive systems between experiment and simulation. Light emission from nitrogen clearly shows an off-centered peak (ring-shaped profile) in both experiment and simulation. Our simulation results indicate that diffusion of air (nitrogen) into the helium flow plays a key role. Penning ionization between helium metastables and nitrogen generate the ring-shaped emission profile.

Nonthermal atmospheric rf plasma in one-dimensional spherical coordinates: Asymmetric sheath structure and the discharge mechanism

We present one-dimensional simulations of atmospheric pressure rf-excited plasma with two concentric spherical electrodes and the inner electrode powered. The gas used is helium with 0.1% nitrogen addition. The gap distance between the inner and outer electrodes is 1mm. The coupled continuity equations and electron energy equation are solved with Poisson’s equation using the finite element method. A mode transition is observed in the discharge power-voltage curve between 1 and 1000mW. In the low power mode, ionization rate peaks only near the inner electrode. The electron-impact excitation and ionization rates peak in the local cathodic phase. In the high power mode, the rate of ionization peaks near the outer electrode as well as the inner electrode. The inner sheath significantly shrinks and the direct electron-impact ionization is the primary ionization reaction near the inner electrode. The ionization rate near the outer electrode is due to Ohmic sheath oscillation heating of electrons, resulting in a...

Disinfection of E. coli by nonthermal microplasma electrolysis in normal saline solution

We present a unique method to inactivate microorganisms in 0.9% NaCl solution (normal saline solution) by means of microplasmas. The device consists of a thin titanium wire covered by a glass tube for insulation except the tip and a ground electrode. Application of an asymmetric high-frequency, high voltage results in the formation of microbubbles at both electrodes. Repetitive light emission is observed in the vicinity of the powered electrode. We employed E. coli bacteria to investigate the disinfection efficiency of the device. More than 99.5% of E. coli were deactivated in 180 s. The survival curve showed biphasic behavior.

Corona-glow transition in the atmospheric pressure RF-excited plasma needle

We present clear evidence of two different discharge modes of the atmospheric pressure RF-excited plasma needle and the transition mechanism by the finite element method. The gas used is helium with 0.1% nitrogen addition. The needle has a point-to-plane geometry with a radius of 30 µm at the tip, 150 µm at the base and an inter-electrode gap of 1 mm. We employ the one-moment fluid model with the local field approximation. Our simulation results indicate that the plasma needle operates as a corona discharge at low power and that the discharge mode transitions to a glow discharge at a critical power. The discharge power increases but the discharge voltage drops abruptly by a factor of about 2 in the corona-glow transition. The plasma density and ionization is confined near the needle tip in corona-mode while it spreads back along the needle surface in glow-mode. The corona-glow transition is also characterized by a dramatic decrease in sheath thickness and an order of magnitude increase in plasma density and volume-averaged ionization. The transition is observed whether or not secondary electron emission is included in the model, and therefore we suggest that this is not an α –γ transition.

Gas flow dependence of ground state atomic oxygen in plasma needle discharge at atmospheric pressure

We present clear evidence that ground state atomic oxygen shows two patterns near a surface in the helium plasma needle discharge. Two-photon absorption laser-induced fluorescence spectroscopy, combined with gas flow simulation, was employed to obtain spatially-resolved ground state atomic oxygen densities. When the feed gas flow rate is low, the radial density peaks along the axis of the needle. At high flow rate, a ring-shaped density distribution appears. The peak density is on the order of 1021 m−3 in both cases. The results are consistent with a previous report of the flow-dependent bacterial killing pattern observed under similar conditions.

Finite element analysis of an atmospheric pressure RF-excited plasma needle

We report results from a two-dimensional, axisymmetric numerical simulation of the plasma needle, powered at 13.56 MHz. The atmospheric pressure discharge is simulated in helium with a small amount of nitrogen. The needle has a point-to-plane geometry with a radius of 30 µm at the tip and an inter-electrode gap of 1 mm. We employ the one-moment fluid model with local field approximation. The coupled continuity equations for electrons, ions and metastables are solved with Poissons equation using the finite element method with an unstructured grid. The discharge voltage–power characteristic demonstrates a region in which multiple solutions exist for a given applied RF voltage. This mode transition in the plasma needle resembles an α–γ transition from a lower plasma density regime with a relatively thick sheath at the needle tip to a higher plasma density regime with a relatively thin sheath at the needle tip.