Plasma Medicine

This comprehensive text is suitable for researchers and graduate students of a ‘hot’ new topic in medical physics. Written by the world’s leading experts, this book aims to present recent developments in plasma medicine, both technological and scientific, reviewed in a fashion accessible to the highly interdisciplinary audience consisting of doctors, physicists, biologists, chemists and other scientists, university students and professors, engineers and medical practitioners. The book focuses on major topics and covers the physics required to develop novel plasma discharges relevant for medical applications, the medicine to apply the technology not only in-vitro but also in-vivo testing and the biology to understand complicated bio-chemical processes involved in plasma interaction with living tissues.

The first book dedicated exclusively to plasma medicine for graduate students and researchers in physics, engineering, biology, medicine and biochemistry.

This book presents the state of the art in clinical plasma medicine and outlines translational research strategies. Written by an international group of authors, it is divided into four parts. Part I is a detailed introduction and includes basic and recent research information on plasma sciences, plasma devices and mechanisms of biological plasma effects. Parts II and III provide valuable clinical insights f.e. into the treatment of superficial contaminations, ulcerations, wounds, treatment of cells in cancer, special indications like in heart surgery, dentistry, palliative treatment in head and neck cancer or the use of plasma in hygiene. Part IV offers information on how and where to qualify in plasma medicine and which companies produce and supply medical devices and is thus of particular interest to medical practitioners. This comprehensive book offers a sciences based practical to the clinical use of plasma and includes an extended selection of scientific medical data and translational literature.

Plasma Medical Science describes the progress that has been made in the field over the past five years, illustrating what readers must know to be successful. As non-thermal, atmospheric pressure plasma has been applied for a wide variety of medical fields, including wound healing, blood coagulation, and cancer therapy, this book is a timely resource on the topics discussed. Provides a dedicated reference for this emerging topic Discusses the state-of-the-art developments in plasma technology Introduces topics of plasma biophysics and biochemistry that are required to understand the application of the technology for plasma medicine Brings together diverse experience in this field in one reference text Provides a roadmap for future developments in the area

Plasma can be defined as the extracellular matrix of blood cells. Plasma components, their role in human health risk evaluation, and their functional and clinical analyses are covered in this book. Furthermore, physical plasma-ionized gas is one of the four fundamental states of matter. This homonym has begun to emerge because it can interact with living systems. The physical plasma biomedical applications are reviewed in drug delivery and wound healing medical applications. This approach revolutionizes the therapeutic approaches in medicine and may open up new concepts and clinical applications. The book is an essential source for researchers in the field and provides a platform for different professions.

There is growing interest in the use of physical plasmas (ionized gases) for biomedical applications, especially in the framework of so-called “plasma medicine”, which exploits the action of low-power, atmospheric pressure plasmas for therapeutic purposes. Such plasmas are “cold plasmas”, in the sense that only electrons have a high temperature, whereas ions and the neutral gas particles are at or near room temperature. As a consequence, the “plasma flame” can be directly applied to living matter without appreciable thermal load. Reactive chemical species, charged particles, visible and UV radiation, and electric fields are interaction channels of the plasma with pathogens, cells, and tissues, which can trigger a variety of different responses. Possible applications include disinfection, wound healing, cancer treatment, non-thermal blood coagulation, just to mention some. The understanding of the mechanisms of plasma action on living matter requires a strongly interdisciplinary approach, with competencies ranging from plasma physics and technology to chemistry, to biology and finally to medicine. This book is a collection of work that explores recent advances in this field.

Platelet-Rich Plasma (PRP) has gained tremendous popularity in recent years as a treatment option for specialties including Orthopedics, Dentistry, Sports Medicine, Otorhinolaryngology, Neurosurgery, Ophthalmology, Urology, Vascular, Cardiothoracic and Maxillofacial Surgery, and Veterinarian Medicine. Nowadays, PRP and Stem Cell Science have added an exciting dimension to tissue repair. This book begins by giving the reader a broad overview of current progress as well as a discussion of the technical aspects of preparation and therapeutic use of autologous PRP. It is followed by a review of platelet structure, function and major growth factors in PRP (PDGF and TGFβ).The third chapter outlines the basic principles of biochemical cellular metabolism that increases the efficacy of PRP. Analogous to the preparation of soil for a garden, restoring cellular health should be the first consideration in Regenerative Medicine. Standardization of PRP preparation to clinical use still remains a challenging prospect. In this sense, a feasible strategy for studying PRP preparation is illustrated, which also allows to modulate and tailor the quality of PRP for further clinical applications. The science behind PRP and stem cells, on tissue regeneration, cell proliferation and mesenchyme stem-cells are emphasized and reviewed. Various specific uses of PRP are described with detailed illustrations of various personal experiences mainly in orthopedic injuries, ligament and tend on repair, degenerative diseases, sports medicine, chronic wound healing as well as rehabilitation aspects in tendinopathy. Expertly written by leading scientists in the field, this book provides for beginners and experienced readers scientific fundamentals, the state of art of PRP, specific uses and personal experiences with a practical approach and reference for current trends in use. Finally, this book paves the way for future developments.

This book highlights plasma science and technology-related research and development work at institutes and universities networked through Asian African Association for Plasma Training (AAAPT) which was established in 1988. The AAAPT, with 52 member institutes in 24 countries, promotes the initiation and intensification of plasma research and development through cooperation and technology sharing. With 13 chapters on fusion-relevant, laboratory and industrial plasmas for wide range of applications and basic research and a chapter on AAAPT network, it demonstrates how, with collaborations, high-quality, industrially relevant academic and scientific research on fusion, industrial and laboratory plasmas and plasma diagnostics can be successfully pursued in small research labs. These plasma sciences and technologies include pioneering breakthroughs and applications in (i) fusion relevant research in the quest for long-term, clean energy source development using high-temperature, high- density plasmas and (ii) multibillion-dollar, low-temperature, non-equilibrium and thermal industrial plasmas used in processing, synthesis and electronics.