title: Nonthermal plasma sterilization of living and nonliving surfaces.
abstract: The recent tremendous progress in understanding physical plasma phenomena, together with the development of new plasma sources, has put a growing focus on the application of nonthermal plasmas in the biomedical domain. Among several novel applications, the inactivation of bacteria by nonthermal plasmas (so-called plasma sterilization) is particularly interesting. This introductory review provides a summary of the current status of this emerging research field. In addition to the inactivation of bacteria on nonliving surfaces, this review also focuses on the sterilization of living surfaces, such as animal and human tissues. Clearly, nonthermal plasmas have undoubtedly great potential as a novel method for low-temperature sterilization.
authors.affiliation: Research Unit Plasma Technology, Department of Applied Physics, Faculty of Engineering and Architecture, Ghent University, 9000 Gent, Belgium. nathalie.degeyter@ugent.be
authors.forename: N
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: De Geyter
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Morent
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001419:Bacteria / Q000378:metabolism; D001672:Biocompatible Materials; D001698:Biomedical Engineering / Q000379:methods*; D035843:Biomedical Research / Q000379:methods; D003080:Cold Temperature; D006801:Humans; D013242:Sterilization / Q000295:instrumentation* / Q000379:methods*; D013499:Surface Properties; D013696:Temperature
chemical_list: D001672:Biocompatible Materials