Plasma Medicine

Ziele und Zweck

Technology has always played an important role in medicine and there are many journals today devoted to medical applications of ionizing radiation, lasers, ultrasound, magnetic resonance and others. Plasma technology is a relative newcomer to the field of medicine. Experimental work conducted at several major universities, research centers and companies around the world over the recent decade demonstrates that plasma can be used in variety of medical applications. It is already widely used surgeries and endoscopic procedures. It has been shown to control properties of cellular and tissue matrices, including biocompatibility of various substrates. Non-thermal plasma has been demonstrated to deactivate dangerous pathogens and to stop bleeding without damaging healthy tissue. It can be used to promote wound healing and to treat cancer. Understanding of various mechanisms by which plasma can interact with living systems, including effects of reactive oxygen species, reactive nitrogen species and charges, has begun to emerge recently. The aim of the Plasma Medicine journal will be to provide a forum where the above topics as well as topics closely related to them can be presented and discussed. Existing journals on plasma science and technology are aimed for audiences with primarily engineering and science background. The field of Plasma Medicine, on the other hand, is highly interdisciplinary. Some of prospective readers and contributors of the Plasma Medicine journal are expected to have background in medicine and biology. Others might be more familiar with plasma science. The goal of the proposed Plasma Medicine journal is to bridge the gap between audiences with such different backgrounds, without sacrificing the quality of the papers be their emphasis on medicine, biology or plasma science and technology.