Plasma Medicine

The topic of plasma medicine embraces physics, required to develop novel plasma discharges relevant for medical applications, medicine, to apply the technology not only in-vitro but also in-vivo testing, and last but not least biology to understand complicated bio-chemical processes involved in plasma interaction with living tissues. Plasma Medicine has been written for the numerous scientists and medical practitioners, students, professors and researchers from industrial companies, who are involved today in the research and development of this key topic. This comprehensive volume consolidates plasma medicine as a new field of science and technology.The first five chapters focus on the chemical and physical aspects of plasma medicine, presenting:* An introduction to fundamental and applied aspects of plasma medicine* The fundamentals of plasma physics and plasma chemistry relevant to biological and medical applications;* Relevant concepts in biology and medicine for physical scientists* A description of the major plasma discharges and their applicability for plasma medicine;* The mechanisms of plasma interactions with cells.The next six chapters focus on applied plasma medicine:* Plasma sterilization of inanimate surfaces;* Plasma decontaminationof water and air;* Plasma treatment of blood;* Plasma assisted healing and treatment of diseases;* Plasma pharmacology;* Fundamentals of plasma-assisted tissue engineering and plasma processing of polymers.Plasma Medicine is aimed at researchers and advanced students in the medical, healthcare and scientific communities, as well as plasma scientists and engineers interested in entering this field. In addition, with the recent introduction of the subject of plasma medicine to the academic curriculum of many universities, the authors hope that the present book will be helpful to students (as well as professors) involved in the plasma-medical education.