ECE Professors Issued New Patent
On August 11, 2009, Dr. Karl Schoenbach, Abdel-Aleam Mohamed, a former student of Dr. Schoenbach, and Dr. Juergen Kolb were issued a new patent on "Method and Device for Creating a Microplasma Jet" (US Patent 7.572,998).
The invention is based on the technology of a microhollow cathode discharge and can work with many different gases at atmospheric pressure, including air.
As a result, the plasma can even be operated under ambient conditions (no vacuum-system required) and plasma species can be promoted to enhance favored interaction mechanisms with the target material.
Most importantly, the temperature of the jet can be adjusted to allow for the treatment of heat sensitive surfaces, such as skin. Foreseeable medical possibilities of this technology are currently being investigated at the Frank Reidy Center for Bioelectrics.
