Selectivity of Non-Thermal Atmospheric-Pressure Microsecond-Pulsed Dielectric Barrier Discharge Plasma Induced Apoptosis in Tumor Cells over Healthy Cells

Non-thermal plasma is now being widely investigated for various clinical applications ranging from surface sterilization to blood coagulation to wound healing to cancer therapy. 2] Unlike ionizing radiation, which damages healthy tissue surrounding the malignant tissue, 4,5 or photodynamic therapy, which causes scarring and burning of nearby healthy tissue, non-thermal plasma, due to its non-penetrating nature, may provide a safer means to induce selective apoptosis in malignant tissue by providing precise control of treatment area and depth.