The new frontier in plasma medicine (Vol. 46 No. 3)

Data on the transport of electrical charges in water vapour provide the key ingredients to new plasma models applicable to medicine.

Applications of plasmas in medicine are a new frontier in therapeutic treatment. For example, they can help in stimulating tissue regeneration in the contexts of wound healing and dermatology. Before these and further applications can be developed, it is essential to understand the processes at work in plasmas—a unique kind of gas-like state of matter containing charged particles. Now a study published by the authors provides previously unavailable data on oxygen ion transport and the likelihood of such ions interacting with water molecules. These could contribute to new models of plasmas in liquids which account for how discharges are created in water vapour.

V. Stojanović, Z. Raspopović, D. Marić and Z. Lj. Petrović, Cross sections and transport of O- in H2O vapour at low pressures, Eur. Phys. J. D 69, 63 (2015)
[Abstract]