Extracellular effects
Dr. Stephan Reuter - Head of Junior Research Group
The ZIK plasmatis research group "extracellular effects", a team of interdisciplinary scientists fundamentals examines the cold NON EQUILIBRIUM ATMOSPHERIC PRESSURE PLASMAS. Due to their high chemical reactivity and low temperature, these plasmas are excellently suited for treatment of living cells and tissue. The research group's innovative approach is to examine plasmas as well as liquids (physiological liquids and extracellular matrix as well as buffer solutions) with state of the art optical diagnostic techniques.
Secondary effects play a vital role in plasma - cell/tissue - interactions : In order to survive, a cell needs a liquid environment. This means that a plasma always influences cells through their extracellular physiological environment and their metabolites. In vivo cell treatments require an understanding of plasma induced changes in the cellular environment, which is thus necessary in order to treat patients. The primary goal is to gain detailed insight into the biochemical and biophysical processes of a plasma treatment through quantitative time- and space-resolved diagnostics. These insights make it possible to specify densities and distributions of relevant reactive components in the plasma as well as in the cellular environment and examine their synergetic effects.
