In summer 2016, the Applied Plasma Medicine Centre was founded in the Korean capital Seoul as a joint project between scientists from the Leibniz Institute for Plasma Science and Technology (INP) and the Plasma Bioscience Research Institute at Kwangwoon University. Experts from both research locations are now taking stock of their work at an international workshop in Greifswald.
While the medical application of cold atmospheric pressure plasmas is well established in numerous German clinics, this step has yet to be taken in Asia. Three plasma devices have been approved in Europe since 2013, including the kINPen® MED developed at the INP. It is foreseeable that further products in this field will come onto the market. However, it is currently difficult to compare these devices and their effectiveness and safety with each other. The Leibniz Institute for Plasma Science and Technology and the Plasma Bioscience Research Institute at Kwangwoon University Seoul have therefore pooled their research activities to define common standards and diagnostics in plasma medicine. With the official opening of the Applied Plasma Medicine Centre (APMC) in February 2017, this collaboration was institutionalised as part of the first APMC workshop. This is the first time that a Leibniz Institute has become a partner in a Korean excellence research programme.
"We are striving to harmonise the test methods for plasma devices and want to achieve comparable results," says Prof. Thomas von Woedtke, head of the plasma medicine research programme at the INP. "The aim is to establish an international standard so that plasma technologies can be transferred to new areas of application in medicine worldwide."
In the first year since the APMC opened, INP researchers spent a total of 126 days in Seoul testing the different methods and devices. The data obtained during this research work will be used to prepare for the transition to everyday clinical practice. "Approval procedures for medical products are just as complex in Korea as they are in Germany," says Dr. Kai Masur, head of the Plasma Wound Healing Research Group at ZIK plasmatis, an interdisciplinary research centre at the INP. "We consider it a great honour to be able to accompany our Korean partners on this journey."
At a second APMC workshop on 22–23 March at the Biotechnikum Greifswald, plasma researchers from both countries will report on their findings and successes to date. The event will take place following the International Workshop on Plasma for Cancer Treatment (IWPCT), which is expected to attract around 120 scientists from 21 countries to the University Medical Centre Greifswald and the INP on 20/21 March.
