In situ Quartz Crystal Microbalance Measurements of Thin Protein Film Plasma Removal

Surgical instruments are intended to come into direct contact with the patients' tissue and thus need to be sterilized and decontaminated in order to prevent infections, inflammations or transmission of diseases. In this study, plasma interactions with low contamination levels (typically less than 3?mu g?.?mm-2) of BSA proteins were investigated in situ by means of quartz crystal microbalance. Mass removal rates were found to depend on treatment time showing a self-limiting behavior. Removal rates kinetics were characterized by descriptive parameters and correlated with plasma induced chemical composition changes and morphological modification of the protein film.