[Defense Commentary] Principles of Chemical Warfare Preparedness

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[Agency for Defense Development]When plasma discharges in the atmosphere, ionized electrons and ions facilitate the generation of various chemical species such as oxygen, nitrogen, and water vapor present in the air. These generated chemical species interact with various material surfaces, causing plasma physical and chemical reactions. In particular, the reactive oxygen species (ROS) and reactive nitrogen species (RNS) produced at this time, originating from oxygen, nitrogen, and moisture, have very strong oxidative power and can be applied to almost all sterilization and disinfection fields.

Recently, research has been conducted using atmospheric pressure plasma jets to selectively and rapidly induce apoptosis in cancer cells while sparing normal cells, and to promote regeneration of difficult-to-treat burns or necrotic skin. Additionally, plasma technology is actively being utilized in various fields such as tooth whitening using plasma reactive species, treatment of intractable diseases, and disc treatment through plasma liquid discharge, with vigorous research ongoing not only in Korea but also primarily in the United States, Germany, and Japan.

Utilizing atmospheric pressure plasma can induce inactivation of super bacteria such as penicillin-resistant strains, and recently, groundbreaking research results have been presented on treating malignant tumors using plasma. Applying plasma disinfection and sterilization methods to indoor spaces, walls, beds, and surfaces of medical devices contaminated with emerging viruses and bacteria like COVID-19 can sufficiently prevent secondary infections. This convergence research between plasma and medical fields has also greatly contributed to the advancement of the academic discipline known as Plasma Medicine.

▲ Design Technology for Flexible Plasma Electrodes with Cooling Capability = One of the most important research topics in plasma technology for bio-applications is developing a convenient plasma source that ensures electrical safety and biomedical safety, making it applicable to patients and the general public. For this, the plasma source must operate at atmospheric pressure, not generate heat in biological tissues, and be easy to use.

The Agency for Defense Development (ADD) has introduced flexible plasma sterilization, disinfection, and treatment technology using flexible electrodes. This technology, which moves away from conventional flat electrodes to utilize flexible substrates, is attracting great interest as it can be applied across various industrial fields such as environment, materials, agriculture and food, and beauty.

However, to apply plasma technology to surfaces highly sensitive to temperature such as biological tissues, it is necessary to rapidly cool the heat generated by flexible electrodes discharging in air and maintain discharge at low temperatures. Generally, when air plasma discharges on the electrode surface, heat damages the packaging or dielectric materials of the thinly designed electrode parts, eventually causing durability and safety issues in the plasma generation device itself. Therefore, it is necessary to add cooling functions to the electrode itself or strengthen the durability of the electrode arrangement, as well as design a system that can cool the surface irradiated by plasma.

To solve these issues, ADD has disclosed a patent that allows temperature control of the flexible electrode itself when plasma discharges on the surface of a previously disclosed flexible electrode, enabling more efficient power control and lowering the electrode surface temperature, thereby expanding applications in sterilization, disinfection, treatment, and beauty.

▲ The Future of Plasma Sterilization and Treatment Devices in Defense = In future contaminated battlefield situations, using low-temperature flexible plasma patches or plasma jets is expected to rapidly sterilize wounds on soldiers and also be used for hemostasis by coagulating blood. Research on rapid blood coagulation has already been confirmed, and studies report that skin tissue regeneration is faster when plasma treatment is applied alone or in combination with conventional drug therapy, increasing the likelihood that plasma-based treatments will be applied to future soldiers.

▲ Flexible Plasma Electrodes and the Future = The plasma bio-medical science field is steadily advancing under the goal of maintaining healthy lives and curing intractable diseases. For this, the development of low-temperature atmospheric pressure plasma sources applicable to humans beyond laboratory settings is increasingly spreading.

Looking at overseas cases, plasma sources developed for skin beauty or improvement of skin troubles are being applied in combination with or independently from existing cancer treatments for various cancer cells, degenerative neurological diseases, and skin disease treatments. In particular, plasma application is expected to have significant effects in treating difficult cancers such as liver cancer, lung cancer, brain cancer, breast cancer, pancreatic cancer, skin cancer, and blood cancer. Therefore, in the future, the development of low-temperature atmospheric pressure plasma medical device systems for surgical trauma treatment, burn treatment, and skin disease control and treatment is expected to receive even greater attention.

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