Live Pig Skin Tissue and Wound Toxicity of Cold Plasma Treatment

Cold atmospheric pressure plasmas have emerged as a promising new tool for medical applications. Compared to conventional thermal plasma, such as arc coagulators and desiccators, cold plasma can be more selective in its application and may be used for effective sterilization of skin and wound tissue, wound healing and tissue regeneration, cancer treatment and blood coagulation. One of the key questions that has to be answered before these plasma technologies are introduced in medical practice is the safety of plasma treatment of living tissues, i.e. toxic dose levels of plasma exposure should be determined. It is well established that porcine (pig) skin closely resembles human skin; hence we evaluated the potential toxic effects of plasma treatment on intact and wounded skin in a Yorkshire pig model. Varying doses of Floating Electrode Dielectric Barrier Discharge (FE-DBD) and microsecond Pin-to-Hole Spark Discharge (PHD) plasmas were applied to determine a dosage regime where tissue damage occurs.