A study on the cytotoxiciy of low temperature plasma

Summary form only given: Low temperature plasma is being actively considered in medical applications such as in wound healing and blood coagulation. Several investigators have reported promising results regarding the treatment of chronic wounds and even the induction of apoptosis in some types of cancer cells. However, before seriously considering plasma technology for these applications and others involving biological cells, it is important to evaluate its cytotoxicity. Cells can be damaged by various agents generated by plasmas, These include heat, ultraviolet radiation, and chemically reactive species. In this paper we discuss these issues and using a multi-cell organism as a model we show that exposure to low temperature plasma jets generated by our pulsed source, the "Plasma Pencil" did not elicit negative effects on cell regeneration.