Sterilization of methicillin-resistant staphylococcus aureus with dielectric barrier discharge

In this study we aim to address treatment of Staphylococcus aureus, one of the most common causes of infection after injury or surgery. Besides the infecting wounds, Staphylococcus aureus may even spread to the bone and antibiotic resistance in Staphylococcus aureus is a serious problem. The application of atmospheric pressure non-thermal dielectric barrier discharge is an effective method in decontamination of the living tissue. In this project we apply non-thermal plasma on contaminated liquid and surfaces to evaluate sterilization efficacy with log reduction in bacterial concentration as a function of different parameters such as plasma treatment time and power density. We test the effects of non-thermal plasma treatment in decontamination of Staphylococcus aureus, methicillinresistant Staphylococcus aureus and Escherichia coli (as benchmark species) in different media and on different surfaces. Mechanisms of plasma decontaminations were studied using various assays and characterization methods. All three bacteria species were studied in their early logarithmic growth phase and late lag phase. In conclusion, we found that atmospheric pressure non-thermal plasma can effectively sterilize methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus.