Portable Plasma Biomedical Device for Cancer Treatment

This research study examined the effect of non-thermal portable atmospheric air plasma system on leukemia cancer cells. Acute monocytic leukemia cells (THP-1) were exposed to atmospheric pressure non-thermal plasma. To assess death caused by plasma exposure, cells were subjected to trypan blue exclusion assays and a kill-curve and assessment of death overtime were compiled using data from the assays. In addition to this, DNA was harvested from treated and untreated samples to determine if apoptotic ladders were present. Results have indicated that non-thermal plasma can cause cell death in THP-1 cells overtime, and the death that occurs corresponds directly to the amount of time that the cells were exposed to ionized plasma. Preliminary fluorescent imaging of the treated cells revealed that higher treatment doses are not only more likely to induce cellular death but are likely to induce necrotic death, while lower treatment doses that are capable of inducing death may induce apoptotic or programmed cellular death. Ideally the results obtained from these experiments will allow for further investigation of the effects of ionized non-thermal plasma on melanoma cell lines and will lead to an inexpensive method for treating early stage skin cancer and cancerous lesions.