Development of an atmospheric nonthermal multineedle dielectric barrier discharge jet for large area treatment of skin diseases

Abstract

Nonthermal plasma is suitable for applications in the biomedical field because of the large amounts of active species and a low gas temperature that does not injure the human body. A plasma jet of the typical pen type is applied in most biomedical applications, but it is difficult to apply such jets to treat skin diseases that generally have wide affected areas. In this study, nonthermal multineedle dielectric barrier discharge (DBD) jet was developed for the treatment of large area lesions and used to verify its effectiveness in treating psoriasis as a representative skin disease. Stable discharge was maintained using the developed plasma jet with a multineedle electrode structure by utilizing various discharge gases. Electrical and optical analyses were performed to determine the characteristics of the plasma. The effectiveness of psoriasis treatment using this approach was confirmed by performing in vitro and in vivo experiments with the multineedle DBD jet.