The plasma jet kINPen - A powerful tool for wound healing

The development of cold atmospheric pressure plasma sources was the starting point for the innovative field of plasma medicine many years ago. Today, a large body of information is available on the biomedical and clinical applications of plasma. Among the latter, wound healing is of special interest as there have been promising studies demonstrating a benefit of plasma in the treatment of chronic wounds. Wound healing is tightly regulated by redox mechanisms. This creates an exciting opportunity as we and others have identified reactive oxygen and nitrogen species to be the central components mediating biological effects of cold plasma. A directed delivery of the plasma-generated species to cells and tissues may therefore commence new therapeutic options not only in the healing of pathological wounds but also related to other redox-based diseases. The literature covers numerous findings on the biological effects of cold physical plasma sources. However, plasma sources strongly differ from each other making it challenging to summarize or even compare results from different types of sources from a physical and biological point of view. The aim of this comprehensive review is to provide a unique compendium of studies assessing the pre-clinical and clinical relevance as well as potential health risks related to the exposure to the atmospheric pressure argon plasma jet kINPen. This well-investigated and promising plasma source demonstrates a strong potential to be of clinical significance in the near future. Also, the collection of studies investigating its biological effects may serve as a role model for similar plasma sources and applications in the field of plasma medicine. (C) 2016 Elsevier GmbH. All rights reserved.