Plasma medicine

Plasma medicine is an emerging field that combines plasma physics, life sciences and clinical medicine. It is being studied in disinfection, healing, cancer, and surgery. Most of the research is in vitro and in animal models.

It uses ionized gas (physical plasma) for medical uses or dental applications. Plasma, often called the fourth state of matter, is an ionized gas containing positive ions and negative ions or electrons, but is approximately charge neutral on the whole. The plasma sources used for plasma medicine are generally low temperature plasmas, and they generate ions, chemically reactive atoms and molecules, and UV-photons. These plasma-generated active species are useful for several bio-medical applications such as sterilization of implants and surgical instruments as well as modifying biomaterial surface properties. Sensitive applications of plasma, like subjecting human body or internal organs to plasma treatment for medical purposes, are also possible. This possibility is being heavily investigated by research groups worldwide under the highly-interdisciplinary research field called "plasma medicine".