Document Type

Article

Rights

Available under a Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial Share Alike 4.0 International Licence

Disciplines

3. MEDICAL AND HEALTH SCIENCES

Abstract

Plasma technology has been an integral part of research in life sciences for decades through its role in the manufacture and modification of material surface characteristics of many common laboratory consumables, and it is still of interest in many fields, including the treatment of biomaterials and implants. In recent years, the use of plasma at room temperature and atmospheric pressure (cold atmospheric plasma) has led to a shift in the field by putting the focus on biomedicine due to its applicability to heat-sensitive materials, including biomaterials, and expanding the traditional applicability of plasmas to cells and tissues. Consequently, biomedical applications of cold plasmas have experienced a surge in recent years due to both the evolution of plasma sources to be used under atmospheric pressure and in handy devices, and the increasing need of our society to find novel solutions to unresolved health problems. The versatility of plasmas and the vibrant advances in the field are reflected in the high number of papers collected in this Special Issue and their wide scope of topics and applicability. Cold plasmas, both at low pressure and at atmospheric pressure, are reflected in the contributions, and the latter being employed both directly on materials and cells, as well as being used to produce plasma-treated liquids which find equivalent applications to plasmas in the different areas mentioned. In the following sections we briefly discuss the most relevant findings gathered in the papers included in this Special Issue in each of the different areas concerned.

DOI

https://doi.org/10.3390/app11167203


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