Plasma Devices Kill Drug-Resistant Bacteria, Even in Chronic Wounds
Plasma plays quite a large role in the universe, making up the high-energy centers of stars like our sun. But researchers are finding that plasma can carry out very small tasks just as well, like killing MSRA and other drug-resistant bacteria both on the skin’s surface and in chronic, non-healing wounds. Two new devices under development have the capacity to kill bacteria both in clinical settings where one might pick up an infection as well as in wounds already populated by stubborn bacteria colonies. One of the devices is safe for human skin, more effective than the usual method of disinfecting (good old fashioned hand-washing for 3-5 minutes, repeatedly) and could save medical workers hours of time in scrubbing each day. The other, the “argon plasma torch” as it’s currently known, delivers a deadly dose of bactericidal cocktail to offending cells while supporting healthy cellular regeneration in chronic wounds....