Dosimetric effects of cold atmospheric plasmas on human-derived cells

Cold atmospheric plasma (CAP) has shown great potential for biomedical applications due to its non-thermal properties and ability to generate abundant chemically reactive species. One of the key challenges in its clinical translation is the different dose responses across various human-derived cell lines. In this study, a CAP source with a floating-electrode dielectric-barrier-discharge (FE-DBD) configuration was used for evaluating the dose-dependent cytotoxicity of CAPs on eight human-derived cell lines. A preliminary study was also conducted to investigate the action mechanisms of the CAP-induced cell death, which may be related to the accumulation of intracellular reactive oxygen species and the decrease in mitochondrial membrane potential. This research is helpful for establishing a cellular dose-response database and providing reference dosage values in clinical applications.