Deactivation of A549 cancer cells in vitro by a dielectric barrier discharge plasma needle

National Natural Science Foundation of China [10735090, 11005151]An inactivation mechanism study on A549 cancer cells by means of a dielectric barrier discharge plasma needle is presented. The neutral red uptake assay provides a quantitative estimation of cell viability after plasma treatment. Experimental results show that the efficiency of argon plasma for the inactivation process is very dependent on power and treatment time. A 27 W power and 120 s treatment time along with 900 standard cubic centimeter per minute Ar flow and a nozzle-to-sample separation of 3 mm are the best parameters of the process. According to the argon emission spectra of the plasma jet and the optical microscope images of the A549 cells after plasma treatment, it is concluded that the reactive species (for example, OH and O) in the argon plasma play a major role in the cell deactivation. (C) 2011 American Institute of Physics. [doi:10.1063/1.3553873