Strengthening international cooperation in the field of plasma medicine with €3.4 million - With this multi-million-euro excellence research project, the Korean government supported the establishment of an "Applied Plasma Medicine Centre" (APMC) in Korea. This project was realised by two renowned plasma research institutes, the Plasma Bioscience Research Institute (PBRC) at Kwangwoon University in Seoul and the Leibniz Institute for Plasma Science and Technology (INP Greifswald).
The Korean government supported Korean scientific institutions in cooperation with international partners in the field of knowledge and technology transfer with its multi-million euro "Global Research Development Centre" (GRDC) excellence research programme. Each year, only three projects are selected for funding following a two-stage international review process. Together with the Plasma Bioscience Research Institute (PBRC) at Kwangwoon University in Seoul, INP Greifswald successfully applied for this initiative with a project proposal to establish an "Applied Plasma Medicine Centre" (APMC). During this year's official welcome ceremony for the three new project consortia in front of high-ranking representatives from industry and science on 31 October 2016 in Seoul, German Ambassador Stephan Auer said he was delighted "that this year, for the first time, an institution of the Leibniz Association is among the partners of a GRDC project".
The scientists from the INP Greifswald and the Plasma Bioscience Research Institute want to work together to support the medical application of cold physical plasmas in Asia. To this end, special attention will be paid to fundamental performance parameters, common equipment standards and the preparation of clinical studies in Korea. For this reason, neoplas tools GmbH, a spin-off of INP Greifswald, is also involved in the project. The company has launched the world's first CE-certified plasma jet approved as a Class IIa medical device and will contribute its experience and expertise in the field of plasma source development and approval procedures. The official project launch with the opening of the laboratories and offices in Seoul took place in February 2017.
Keyword: plasma medicine
What is plasma? Plasma is described as the fourth state of matter, alongside solid, liquid and gas. When energy is added to a gas, the electrons split from the nucleus and move around freely. Plasma is therefore a (partially) ionised gas which has a number of special properties due to its electrical conductivity. 99% of visible matter is in a plasma state, including our sun and the stars. In addition to this very hot plasma, cold plasma can also be produced artificially – with biologically interesting properties. This plasma is used in plasma medicine for wound healing, among other things.
Plasma medicine is the collective term for the application of physical plasmas for therapeutic purposes. It is a young and interdisciplinary field of science at the interface between physics, medicine and biology.
