22nd International Symposium on Plasma Chemistry
July 5-10, 2015; Antwerp, Belgium
Ovarian cancer cells treatment using a transporting atmospheric pressure
plasma jet
A. Valinataj Omran1,2,4, A. Baitukha1,2, H. Fakhouri1,2, F. Arefi-Khonsari1,2, M. Mirshahi3 and F. Sohbatzadeh4
1
Sorbonne Universités, UPMC Univ Paris 06, UMR 8235, Laboratoire Interfaces et Systèmes Electrochimiques, 75005
Paris, France
2
CNRS, UMR8235, LISE, -75005 Paris, France
3
UMRS 872, Centre de Recherche des Cordeliers, Faculté de Médecine Paris VI, 75006 Paris, France
4
Department of Atomic and Molecular Physics, Faculty of Basic Sciences, University of Mazandaran, Babolsar,
47416-95447 Mazandaran, Iran
Abstract: In this work, in-vitro studies of transporting atmospheric pressure cold plasma
using single electrode configuration through sub-millimeter flexible dielectric tube were
performed. It was shown that the cold plasma eradicates ovarian cancer cells in-vitro.
These features allow the direct and precise application of this transported plasma jet device
to cancer cells.
Keywords: transporting plasma, ovarian cancer, in-vitro
1. Introduction
Cold atmospheric plasma jets, which generate plasmas
in open space rather than in a confined discharge gap,
have received increasing attention in recent years. These
plasmas can be used for a wide range of applications in
particular in medicine. Very recent research showed great
potential of cold plasma treatment in cancer therapy. Kim
et al. demonstrated that the use of a micro-plasma jet
device with a flexible and biocompatible tube is a
powerful tool for cancer therapy [1]. Keidar et al. have
shown that the cold plasma application selectively
eradicates cancer cells in-vitro without damaging normal
cells and significantly reduces tumor size in-vivo [2].
Transported plasmas through capillary tubes operated at
atmospheric pressure have received considerable attention
for both their fundamental physics and practical
applications. This is especially interesting because such a
device can deliver the reactive species to the remote
samples. Robert et al. developed a first version of low
temperature plasma, 'plasma gun', traveling through a
capillary tube [3]. Xiong et al. proposed a model to
explain the propagation mechanisms of ionization waves
in flexible capillary tubes [4]. Therefore, the major
purpose of our present study is the inactivation of ovarian
cancer cells, in-vitro, by cold atmospheric transported
plasma jet.
Fig. 1. Schematic diagram of the experimental setup with
one electrode and photographs of the transported plasma.
Using this transported plasma jet device, the plasma jet
was applied directly to ovarian cancer cells in order to
study the specific influence of the plasma treatment. Here,
ovarian cancer cells were seeded in 24 wells plates and
cultured at 37 °C in a humidified atmosphere of 5% CO2
for 24 h. Prior to plasma treatment, the cells were washed
with PBS, filled with culture medium and treated with
plasmas for 120 s and 180 s, respectively. The distance
between the tube outlet and the cells is 20 mm. After
plasma treatments, the wells were immediately filled with
cell culture medium and incubated for 24 h.
2. Material and Method
The plasma device is driven by an AC power supply
with a 5 kHz frequency [5]. A copper tube (length 8 mm)
is used as a powered electrode and mounted into a 70 cm
long flexible tube. Transported plasma reaches a length of
almost 70 cm. The plasma plume is generated out of the
tube and had a length of approximately 2 cm. Fig. 1 is the
schematic of the experimental set-up. Transported plasma
could apply all over the wells using a robot arm (Fig. 2).
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Fig. 2. Typical image of treatment setup.
3. Results
Delivered plasma extends to a few hundred centimetres
as the saw tooth voltage waveform is applied. Voltage
waveform is a very important factor for propagation
length. In this manner, rise and fall times of the excitation
waveform play the main role in producing such a long
plasma string. Shorter rise time leads to higher maximum
reduced electric field (E/N) and electron density.
After plasma treatment, cancer cells were detached
from the plate in the zone treated with plasma. Images of
treated, untreated and dyed cancer cells are shown in
Figure 3.
4. Conclusions
This paper describes a transporting and flexible plasma
jet device and its potential in developing cancer therapies.
The plasma jet in the ambient air was quite narrow and
far from the generator but long enough to permit direct
treatments of the small area, several hundreds of
micrometers in diameter. Our results show that the
characteristics of the long distance plasma delivery, high
density of reactive species, and low temperature allow
such plasma source to be quite suitable for biomedical
endoscopic applications.
Further researches on the fate of the cells with sub
millimeter line induced by plasma jet inside the wells is
going on and will be reported in due time for the
investigation of effect on ovarian cancer cells.
5. References
[1] M. Keidar, A. Shashurin, O. Volotskova, M. A. Stepp,
P. Srinivasan, A. Sandler, and B. Trink, Physics of
Plasmas, 20, 057101 (2013).
[2] J. Y. Kim, S. O. Kim, Y. Wei, and J. Li, Applied
Physics Letters, 96, 203701 (2010).
[3] E. Robert, E. Barbosa, S. Dozias, M. Vandamme, C.
Cachoncinlle, R. Viladrosa, and J. M. Pouvesle, Plasma
Processes and Polymers, 6, 795-802 (2009).
[4] Z. Xiong and M. J. Kushner, Plasma Sources Science
and Technology, 21, 034001 (2012).
[5] F. Sohbatzadeh, and A. V. Omran, Physics of Plasmas,
21, 113510 (2014).
Fig. 3. Microscope images (4x) of ovarian cancer cells
before and after dying, 24 h after treatment. a) control, b)
120 s and c) 180 s. U=3 kV and Helium flow=1 L.min-1.
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