Cold atmospheric plasma for addressing the COVID-19 pandemic

Area of Science:

• Plasma Science
• Biomedical Engineering
• Infectious Disease Control

Background:

• The COVID-19 pandemic highlighted critical supply chain vulnerabilities for disinfection and personal protective equipment.
• Conventional decontamination methods often rely on resource-constrained consumables and reagents.
• Cold atmospheric plasma (CAP) presents a promising, deployable alternative for disinfection and sterilization.

Purpose of the Study:

• To review the potential of cold atmospheric plasma (CAP) technologies for addressing disinfection and sterilization needs during the COVID-19 pandemic.
• To engage scientists and engineers in developing and applying CAP technologies for medical and public health challenges.
• To establish methods for utilizing broadly applicable CAP technologies in response to global health crises.

Main Methods:

• Review of existing literature on cold atmospheric plasma applications in sterilization and disinfection.
• Analysis of CAP technology's advantages over conventional methods in terms of deployment and resource requirements.
• Identification of potential applications for CAP in mitigating viral transmission.

Main Results:

• CAP technologies are easily deployable and do not require resource-constrained consumables.
• CAP has demonstrated efficacy in various medical applications, including sterilization.
• CAP offers a viable solution for decontaminating surfaces and potentially mitigating airborne and fomite virus transfer.

Conclusions:

• Cold atmospheric plasma (CAP) is a versatile technology with significant potential for disinfection and sterilization applications.
• CAP can help alleviate supply chain stresses for essential materials during pandemics.
• Further research and development are encouraged to broadly implement CAP technologies in healthcare and public health settings.