Symposium BM06-Plasma Processing and Monitoring for Bioengineering and Biomedical Engineering

In recent years, non-thermal plasma technologies have been intensively applied not only to material processing, but also to several bioengineering and biomedical fields, including environmental applications, biotechnology, agriculture, and pharmaceutical production. Sterilization and wound treatment were among the initial medical applications of atmospheric pressure, low temperature plasmas. Within a few years, this application expanded into cancer therapy, gene transfection, and regenerative medicine, among others. For environmental control, the use of plasma has been proposed, e.g. for heat-sensitive medical instruments, for water treatment and to sterilize spacecraft. In agriculture and fishing industries, plasma technology is emerging as a strong tool for food preservation, seed disinfection, seed germination promotion and to promote the growth of plants.

The above-mentioned studies involve plasma applied to biological materials. We anticipate that a completely new plasma processing technology will emerge from these studies. Development of novel material modification or treatment technologies using plasma will be accelerated by the interdisciplinary study of biology, biochemistry, medicine, veterinary science, pharmacology, agriculture, science of fisheries, and sustainable engineering.

This symposium focuses on new research topics described above. In addition, a study for safety of plasma treatment (e.g. understanding DNA damage) and regulatory science such as international standardization for plasma medicine will be presented. Furthermore, novel diagnostic methods utilizing plasma processing will also be discussed, such as fabrication of bio-sensors and imaging devices.

Topics will include:

Plasma processing of biocompatible materials; artificial bone, scaffolds, protein formation such as haemostasis, regenerative medicine
Plasma therapy, and pharmacology; cancer treatment, wound care, treatment of infection
Plasma interaction with living systems and liquids; gene transfection, controlled release of drugs, liquid activation for medical purpose
Plasma dentistry; disinfection of oral bacteria, implant modification, tooth bleaching
Plasma monitoring for processing; in situ monitoring of plasma and biological objects during plasma treatments, measurement of reactive species, ions, photons spatiotemporally
Safety of plasma treatment, and standardization of plasma equipment for clinical applications; dose thresholds of DNA damages, International standardization and regulation such as IEC, ISO, CE
Plasma simulations and modeling; plasma chemistry, interaction between plasma / gas and liquid phases
Plasma for environmental issues; water purification, sterilization of space equipment (e.g. satellite) for planetary protection, odor removal, prevention of diseases
Plasma agriculture; seed germination, sterilization including mold, plant growth promotion, food disinfection and preservation
Plasma processing toward novel medical equipment; fabrications of bio-sensors, manufacturing of imaging devices

Invited Speakers:

Peter Bruggmann (University of Minnesota, USA)
Vittorio Colombo (University of Bologna, Italy)
Theresa Freeman (Thomas Jefferson University, USA)
Yuzuru Ikehara (Chiba University, Japan)
Kazunori Koga (Kyushu University, Japan)
Hirofumi Kurita (Toyohashi University of Technology, Japan)
Zdenko Machala (Comenius University, Slovakia)
Toshiya Okazaki (National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology, Japan)
Stephan Reuter (Princeton University, USA)
Eric Robert (University of Orleans, France)
Eloisa Sardella (The Italian National Research Council - NANOTEC, Italy)
Kiwon Song (Yonsei University, Republic of Korea)
Hiromasa Tanaka (Nagoya University, Japan)
Hubertus Thomas (German Aerospace Center, Germany)