Plasma Treatment of Onychomycosis

Abstract

We report on the use of three “cold” atmospheric plasma (CAP) devices in treating model nails that have been coated on the backside of the nail with either Escherichia coli (E. coli) bacteria or Trichophyton rubrum (T. rubrum) fungus. We tested a helium plasma jet; a surface microdischarge plasma device; and a floating electrode dielectric barrier discharge. All of the devices, acting through the model nail, showed significant log reductions of bacterial and fungal targets in several tens of minutes. CAP technology appears to offer promise as a safe, effective, and inexpensive therapy for fungal nail infection treatment.

Document Details

Document Type
Pub Defense Publication
Publication Date
Apr 09, 2016
Source ID
10.1002/ppap.201600010

Entities

People

  • David B. Graves
  • Jeffrey Roe
  • Timothy C. Grammer
  • Zilan Xiong

Organizations

  • National Science Foundation
  • United States Department of Energy

Tags

Readers

  • Battery Technology and Engineering
  • Nanofabrication and Microfabrication.
  • Pulsed Power and Plasma Physics.