Wearable plasma-pads for healthcare applications: Plasma patch, plasma bandage, plasma socks, and plasma cap

Wearable plasma-devices involving a dielectric barrier discharge (DBD) are introduced. The conventional devices of the atmospheric pressure plasmas, a DBD and a plasma jet developed last decades, have an inconvenient for some cases requiring a frequent treatment, a long period therapy, and a significantly large area to be exposed with the plasma. The wearable plasma-pads are provided to cover such purposes of an user's description. The flexible plasma-pads are comprised by three-layers: a gauzy cloth at the base, a DBD-plasma texture-layer at the middle, and an antiseptic gauze at the top. The DBD-plasma is generated at the space between the bottom cloth and the top gauze. Many kinds of reactive species including UV penetrate through the gauzy-nets into a skin for therapy. We have two ways of texturing the plasma layer: One is to lay the insulated high voltage-wires which are widely used in the electricity. The other is to use the thin polymer-films of a polyimide film (capton film) or a poly-glass film on which the electrodes are made by pasting or printing the conducting materials. In both cases of a plasma layering a high voltage electrode and a ground electrode are formed by many ways of shapes and structures to generate the uniform plasma on the texture surface. The electric power system is also made to be wearable and portable by a rechargeable battery used in a mobile cellular phone. The high voltage is applied with a frequency of several tens of kHz, a sinusoidal voltage of a few kV in rms value through a DC-AC inverter. The plasma pads provide a various forms of products for the user's purpose: such as plasma patch, plasma bandage, plasma socks, and plasma cap, etc. We have made a various size of a plasma patch of which an adhesive tape is attached around the margin. The plasma patch can stick on the face or the skin of a body like a sticking plaster for dermatology. The plasma laced-bandage is applied to a wound and a skin burn with an accident at the scene for stop bleeding and a blood coagulation to prevent the infection. The socks are worn in the night time for the treatment of a tenea-pedis. The cap is for the hair depilation and hair rejuvenation. We introduce the plasma devices relating the basic structures, the electrical properties, and the spectroscopic analysis.