SBIR Phase I: Non-Thermal Plasma Device for Wound Disinfection and Promotion of Wound Healing

这项小型企业创新研究（SBIR）一期项目旨在证明一种新型非热等离子体产生技术的消毒效果，该技术可产生多种活性离子。非热等离子体放电已被发现对正常的细菌、病毒和孢子细胞的生长和增殖具有破坏性。血浆暴露也成功地破坏了生物膜的稳定，降低了细菌的整体生存能力。第一阶段的工作将确定在更大范围的原料气中存在的等离子体羽流中的离子、分子和辐射种类，并确定哪些种类在实现细菌消毒方面最有效，等离子体羽流在感染组织中的有效深度，以及消毒这些组织所需的处理时间。通过对装置结构的修改，允许原料气中成分浓度的变化，人们相信该装置产生的等离子体也会损害生物膜的形成，一旦生物膜成熟就会破坏生物膜的形成，并杀死大量（如果不是全部的话）嵌入体外结构中的细菌。随着医疗机构中抗生素耐药性和医院感染率的攀升，证明非热等离子体的显著杀菌能力可能有利于患者护理。该项目的更广泛的影响/商业潜力是创造一种独特的、便携的、低成本的设备，可以在不产生耐药性的情况下治疗伤口，同时缩短愈合时间，从而将治疗成本降低50%或更多。这对一些慢性和耐抗生素伤口尤其重要。伤口损伤和随后的感染的经济和社会影响是巨大的。伤口护理中最严重的挑战是慢性伤口的治疗。在美国，慢性伤口影响着650万人，每年用于治疗的费用估计为250亿美元。由于卫生保健费用增加、人口老龄化以及世界范围内糖尿病和肥胖及其相关慢性伤口发病率的上升，这一数字还在继续增长。这项技术的成功开发将对患者的治疗结果产生广泛的积极影响。

This Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I project is intended to demonstrate the disinfection efficacy of a novel non-thermal-plasma-generating technology that produces a variety of reactive ionic species. Non-thermal plasma discharge has been found to be disruptive to normal bacterial, viral, and spore cell growth and proliferation. Plasma exposure has also been successful at destabilizing biofilms and reducing overall bacterial viability. Phase I work will define the ionic, molecular, and radiation species present in the plasma plume for a wider range of feed gas, and determine which species are most effective at achieving bacterial disinfection, how deep into the infected tissue the plasma plume is effective, and the treatment times necessary to disinfect these tissues. With modifications to the device construction allowing variations in the concentrations of constituents in the feed gas, it is believed that plasmas generated by this device should also impair biofilm formation, destabilize biofilm formation once they mature, and kill large amounts (if not all) of bacteria embedded within the in vitro constructs. With antibiotic resistance and nosocomial infection rates climbing in medical facilities, demonstration of significant germicidal capabilities of non-thermal plasma could be advantageous for patient care. The broader impact/commercial potential of this project is the creation of a unique, portable, and low-cost device that will allow for treatment of wounds without inducing drug-resistance while simultaneously shortening the healing time, thus reducing the treatment cost by 50% or more. This is especially critical for a number of chronic and antibiotic-resistant wounds. The economic and social impact of wound injuries and subsequent infection is immense. The most serious challenge in wound care is treatment of chronic wounds. Chronic wounds affect 6.5 Million people in the US with an estimated $25 billion spent annually on treatment. This number continues to grow due to increasing health care costs, an aging population, and the rise worldwide in the incidence of diabetes and obesity and their associated chronic wounds. The successful development of this technology will have a broad positive impact on patient outcomes.