Low-temperature plasma jet device

Abstract

The invention discloses a low-temperature plasma jet device which comprises a plasma generator, a plasma power source and a high-voltage wire. The plasma generator comprises a plurality of groups of high-voltage electrodes and a plurality of plasma generation cavities, one ends of the high-voltage electrodes are arranged in the plasma generation cavities, and the plasma generation cavities are used for receiving working gas and generating plasmas by the high-voltage electrodes under the condition that the plasma power supply is powered on; wherein each group of high-voltage electrodes generates mutually independent plasma beams, and the plasma flows out from a plasma outlet in the plasma generator. According to the low-temperature plasma jet device disclosed by the invention, the independent plasma beams are generated through the independent plasma generation cavity, physical isolation of the plasma beams can be realized, and the plasma can be in direct contact with the skin without externally connecting an additional grounding body to the treated skin.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to the field of plasma medicine technology, and more particularly to a plasma jet device. Background Art

[0002] Plasma is a collection of particles composed of electrons, ions and neutral particles, which are electrically neutral as a whole. Plasma can be divided into high-temperature plasma and low-temperature plasma. Low-temperature plasma has the characteristics of low gas temperature and has broad prospects in biomedicine, material modification and other fields.

[0003] Low-temperature plasma jet is a typical form of low-temperature plasma application, which can produce many biomedical effects on living organisms, and thus has broad prospects for biomedical research. As an emerging method of drug delivery, transdermal drug delivery is highly complementary to traditional drug delivery methods. Currently, chemical penetration enhancers, electroporation, microneedles and other methods are mainly used to destroy the skin barrier to promote transdermal drug delivery. However, the existing methods still have problems such as skin irritation, inefficiency, high cost, pain, and infection risk, resulting in low patient compliance. The temperature of low-temperature plasma jet is close to room temperature. During the treatment process, it produces a rapid perforation effect on the epidermis of the skin, thereby promoting the skin's absorption of drugs, without damaging the dermis. It has the advantages of high efficiency, safety, low irritation, and no pain. It has great application potential in the field of transdermal drug delivery and has attracted widespread attention.

[0004] At present, the technology of low-temperature plasma jet devices for transdermal drug delivery is still imperfect. Low-temperature plasma jet devices can only treat target skin and open the skin barrier. After the treatment is completed, additional devices such as drug delivery pools and drug-containing patches are required for drug delivery operations. Since in the process of plasma jet treatment of skin, only the skin in contact with the low-temperature plasma jet is effectively treated and the barrier is opened for drug delivery, and the single beam of low-temperature plasma jet used to treat the skin is generally small in area, most of the existing devices increase the skin area treated at a single time by simultaneously generating multiple beams of low-temperature plasma jets. However, due to requirements such as insulation safety distance, the spacing between different jet beams is large, which results in the skin treated by the jet and the barrier being opened as discrete small areas. At this time, if a drug delivery method such as a drug delivery pool or a drug-containing patch is used for transdermal drug delivery operations with uniform drug delivery over a large area, the drug cannot specifically contact the skin treated by the jet and the barrier is opened. A large amount of drugs cannot enter the skin and be absorbed and utilized by the human body because the skin they contact is not treated. This greatly reduces the drug delivery efficiency of the device and causes serious drug waste during the treatment process. Secondly, most existing plasma jet devices require rare gases as working gases, rely on gas cylinders to store working gases and provide working gases to the plasma generating device through a gas flow control device, which greatly increases its use cost and reduces its portability; the plasma generating area is mostly an entire chamber, and there is no physical isolation between different plasma beams, which are easy to interfere with or merge with each other, resulting in the inability of plasma to generate and eject normally; the power supply mostly uses DC or high-voltage pulse DC power supply, but generally only one power supply is suitable for one device structure, which is not conducive to replacing the power supply of the device to be compatible with various different usage scenarios; when in use, the treated skin is not grounded or an external grounding wire is connected outside the treated area of ​​the skin, the electric field strength in the treated skin area is low, the drug delivery efficiency is low, and plasma often cannot be generated normally, and the path of current flowing through the skin is long and uncontrollable, which increases the risk of electric shock to the human body when using low-temperature plasma jet to treat the skin, reduces the safety and reliability of the device, and has higher and more stringent requirements on the design and manufacture of the device. Summary of the invention

[0005] In view of the defects of the prior art, the purpose of the present invention is to provide a skin treatment transdermal drug delivery device based on low-temperature plasma jet, which integrates the functions of low-temperature plasma treatment and transdermal drug delivery, generates an independent plasma beam through an independent plasma generating chamber, can achieve physical isolation of the plasma beam, and at the same time can make the drug contact only the skin area treated by the low-temperature plasma jet, can use various working gases, is compatible with high-voltage DC power supply and high-voltage DC pulse power supply without changing the structure of the device, the plasma can be in direct contact with the skin without the need for an additional grounding body to be connected to the treated skin, and has a high safety.

[0006] To achieve the above object, the present invention provides a plasma jet device, comprising: a plasma generator, a plasma power supply and a high-voltage wire;

[0007] The plasma generator is connected to the plasma power supply via the high voltage wire;

[0008] The plasma generator includes multiple groups of high-voltage electrodes and multiple plasma generating chambers, one end of each high-voltage electrode is built into the plasma generating chamber, the plasma generating chamber is used to receive working gas and generate plasma when the plasma power supply is powered on, wherein each group of high-voltage electrodes generates a mutually independent plasma beam, and the plasma flows out from a plasma outlet in the plasma generator.

[0009] Furthermore, the plasma generator further comprises: a plurality of current limiting resistors; one end of the current limiting resistor is connected to the other end of the high voltage electrode, and the other end of the current limiting resistor is connected to the plasma power supply through the high voltage wire, so as to limit the current of the plasma during discharge; and

[0010] The plasma generating chamber is used to receive the working gas through a gas channel, wherein the gas channel connects the plasma generating chamber, and the working gas includes air, helium, argon, and neon.

[0011] Furthermore, the plasma generator further comprises a metal grounding plate, which is connected to a common ground electrode via a grounding wire built into a wiring slot. The metal grounding plate comprises a hole, the hole has the same center as the plasma outlet, and the diameter of the hole is greater than the diameter of the plasma outlet.

[0012] Furthermore, the plasma generator also includes a drug inlet, through which the drug flows in and the drug channel, and flows out from the plasma outlet. Alternatively, the drug can flow into the plasma generating chamber through the drug inlet and the drug channel and then flow out from the plasma outlet.

[0013] Preferably, the plasma power supply is a high-voltage DC power supply and / or a high-voltage DC pulse power supply;

[0014] Optionally, the plasma generator further includes a high-voltage component mounting device, a resistor mounting slot, and an electrode mounting slot, wherein the resistor mounting slot and the electrode mounting slot are built into the high-voltage component mounting device, the current-limiting resistor is built into the resistor mounting slot, and the high-voltage electrode is built into the electrode mounting slot.

[0015] Optionally, the high-voltage component mounting device fixes the plasma generating device on the handheld insulating housing through a slot.

[0016] In general, the above technical solutions conceived by the present invention can achieve the following beneficial effects: the drug only contacts the skin area treated by the low-temperature plasma jet, various working gases can be used, high-voltage DC power supplies and high-voltage DC pulse power supplies can be compatible without changing the structure of the device, the plasma can be in direct contact with the skin without the need for an additional grounding body to be connected to the treated skin, and the skin treatment transdermal drug delivery device based on a low-temperature plasma jet has a relatively high safety. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0017] Figure 1 It is a schematic diagram of the overall structure of a low-temperature plasma jet device provided by an embodiment of the present invention.

[0018] Figure 2 It is a schematic diagram of the internal structure of a high-voltage component installation device in a low-temperature plasma jet device in one embodiment of the present invention;

[0019] Figure 3 It is a schematic diagram of the internal structure of another high-voltage component mounting device in a low-temperature plasma jet device in one embodiment of the present invention;

[0020] Figure 4 It is a schematic diagram of an arrangement of holes in a metal grounding plate and a plasma outlet in a low-temperature plasma jet device in one embodiment of the present invention;

[0021] Figure 5 It is a schematic diagram of another arrangement of the metal grounding plate holes and the plasma outlet in the low-temperature plasma jet device in one embodiment of the present invention;

[0022] Figure 6 It is a schematic diagram of another arrangement of the metal grounding plate holes and the plasma outlet in the low-temperature plasma jet device in one embodiment of the present invention;

[0023] Figure 7 is a schematic diagram of a circuit structure of a low-temperature plasma jet device for treating skin in one embodiment of the present invention;

[0024] In the figure: 1 is a handheld insulating shell; 2 is a high-voltage wire groove; 3 is a high-voltage wire; 4 is an ion power supply; 5 is a grounding wire; 6 is a grounding wire groove; 7 is a high-voltage component mounting device; 8 is a resistor mounting groove; 9 is an electrode mounting groove; 10 is an air inlet; 11 is an airway; 12 is a metal grounding plate; 13 is a plasma; 14 is a plasma outlet; 15 is a plasma generating chamber; 16 is a high-voltage electrode; 17 is a current-limiting resistor; 18 is a current-limiting resistor pin; 19 is a hole on the metal grounding plate; 20 is the treated skin; 21 is a drug channel; 22 is a drug inlet; plasma generator 23. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0025] In order to make the purpose, technical solutions and advantages of the present invention more clearly understood, the present invention is further described in detail below in conjunction with the accompanying drawings and embodiments. It should be understood that the specific embodiments described herein are only used to explain the present invention and are not intended to limit the present invention. In addition, the technical features involved in the various embodiments of the present invention described below can be combined with each other as long as they do not conflict with each other.

[0026] Figure 1 The figure shows a schematic diagram of the overall structure of a low-temperature plasma jet device of the present invention, wherein the low-temperature plasma jet device comprises: a plasma generator 23 and a plasma power supply 4, and the plasma generator 23 and the plasma power supply 4 are connected through a high-voltage wire 3. Figure 1 The dotted line portion is a plasma generator 23, which includes: a high-voltage electrode group consisting of a high-voltage electrode 16, a current-limiting resistor group consisting of a current-limiting resistor 17, a current-limiting resistor pin 18, an air inlet 10, an airway 11, a plasma generating chamber 15, a plasma outlet 14, a high-voltage component mounting device 7, a resistor mounting slot 8, an electrode mounting slot 9, a metal grounding sheet 12, a drug channel 21, and a drug inlet 22. One end of the high-voltage electrode 16 is sharpened and the other end is flattened; one end of the high-voltage electrode 16 is built into the plasma generating chamber 15, and the other end of the high-voltage electrode 16 is connected to one end of the current-limiting resistor 17, and the other end of the current-limiting resistor 17 is a current-limiting resistor pin 18, which is connected to the plasma power supply 4 through a high-voltage wire 3.

[0027] In one embodiment, a current limiting resistor 17 is used to limit the current of the plasma during discharge; the air inlet 10 is connected to the plasma generating chamber 15 through the air channel 11, and is used to pass the working gas into the plasma generating chamber 15. One end of the high-voltage electrode 16 is built into the plasma generating chamber 15. During discharge, the high-voltage electrode 16 in the plasma generating chamber 15 generates plasma 13, and the plasma 13 flows out through the plasma outlet 14 connected to the plasma generating chamber 15, wherein each group of high-voltage electrodes is built into a mutually independent plasma generating chamber to generate mutually independent plasma beams to realize a low-temperature plasma jet. Preferably, one end of the high-voltage electrode 16 built into the plasma generating chamber 15 is in a sharpened shape. Through the mutually independent plasma generating chambers in the present invention, mutually independent plasma beams are generated. Compared with non-independent plasma beams, each plasma beam is physically isolated from each other and will not affect each other to cause the plasma to fail to flow out normally.

[0028] Furthermore, the low-temperature plasma jet device also includes: a handheld insulating shell 1, a high-voltage wire trough 2, and a grounding wire trough 6.

[0029] Specifically, the size of the handheld insulating housing 1 is a shape that is easy to grasp with one hand, and its head includes a card slot that matches the high-voltage component mounting device 7, and the plasma generator is fixed through the high-voltage component mounting device 7 and the card slot; the high-voltage wire 3 is built into the high-voltage wire slot 2 and passes through the handheld insulating housing 1 to be connected to the plasma power supply 4, for example, the high-voltage wire slot 2 is set at the center of the horizontal axis of the handheld insulating housing 1. The handheld insulating housing 1 also includes a grounding wire slot 6, and the grounding wire 5 is built into the grounding wire slot 6 to connect the metal grounding plate 12 to the common ground electrode, wherein the high-voltage wire slot 2 and the grounding wire slot 6 are provided with insulating materials to prevent short circuits, and the grounding wire slot 6 is parallel to the high-voltage wire slot 2 and built at the edge of the handheld insulating housing 1.

[0030] Further, the high-voltage component mounting device 7 includes a plurality of mutually parallel mounting grooves, and insulating materials are filled between the mounting grooves to prevent breakdown caused by voltage imbalance between the high-voltage electrodes 16. Each mounting groove includes a resistor mounting groove 8, an electrode mounting groove 9, a plasma generating chamber 15, and a plasma outlet 14, wherein the current limiting resistor 17 is built into the resistor mounting groove 8, and the resistor mounting groove 8 is arranged at the tail end of the high-voltage component mounting device 7, and the length is greater than the length of the current limiting resistor 17, and the diameter is greater than the width of the current limiting resistor 17. The high-voltage electrode 16 is built into the electrode mounting groove 9, one end of the electrode mounting groove 9 is connected to the resistor mounting groove 8, and the other end of the electrode mounting groove 9 is connected to the plasma generating chamber 15, and the length is greater than the length of the high-voltage electrode 16, and the diameter is equal to the width of the high-voltage electrode 16, and the high-voltage electrode 16 is embedded in the electrode mounting groove 9. Specifically, the cross-section of the plasma generating chamber 15 is greater than the cross-section of the high-voltage electrode 16, and the height range of the plasma generating chamber 15 is 2mm-5mm. The plasma generated in the plasma generating chamber 15 flows out from the plasma outlet 14.

[0031] Figure 2 FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of the internal structure of a high-voltage component mounting device in a low-temperature plasma jet device in an embodiment of the present invention. Figure 2 As shown, the low-temperature plasma jet device also includes an air inlet 10, which is connected to the high-voltage component installation device 7. The high-voltage component installation device 7 has an air passage 11 connected to each plasma generating chamber 15. The working gas flows into the air passage 11 from the air inlet 10, and then flows into each plasma generating chamber 15. The high-voltage electrode 16 discharges to generate plasma and then flows out from the plasma outlet 14. The low-temperature plasma jet device further includes a drug inlet 22. The high-voltage component installation device 7 has a drug channel 21 connected to each plasma outlet 14. When administering the drug, the drug enters the drug channel 21 from the drug inlet 22, and then flows into each plasma outlet 14 and contacts the skin treated by the low-temperature plasma jet.

[0032] Figure 3FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of the internal structure of a high-voltage component mounting device in a low-temperature plasma jet device in another embodiment of the present invention. Figure 3 As shown, Figure 2 In comparison, the plasma generating chamber 15 is directly connected to the airway 11 and the airway 21 , and the gas and the medicine are directly input into the plasma generating chamber 15 for mixing and then flow out through the outlet 14 .

[0033] In an embodiment of the present invention, the hole of the metal grounding plate 12 and the plasma outlet 14 in the low-temperature plasma jet device are shown in FIG. Figure 4 , Figure 5 and Figure 6 As shown. The metal grounding sheet 12 is embedded and installed at one end of the high-voltage component mounting device 7. Preferably, the metal grounding sheet 12 is in the shape of a disc, and the cross-sectional area is smaller than the head of the high-voltage mounting device. There are holes 19 on the metal grounding sheet 12 that correspond to the plasma outlets 14 one by one. The diameter of the hole 19 is larger than the diameter of the plasma outlet 14, and the center of each hole 19 is the same as the corresponding plasma outlet 14; wherein the metal grounding sheet 12 is connected to the grounding wire 5, and the grounding wire 5 passes through the high-voltage component mounting device 7 and the grounding wire slot 6 in the handheld insulating housing 1, and is connected to the ground wire end of the plasma power supply 4 and connected to the common grounding terminal.

[0034] In one embodiment, the number of high-voltage electrode groups is related to the size of the treated skin. When the number is greater than one, each high-voltage electrode is placed in parallel and arranged in a circular or polygonal manner. The spacing between each high-voltage electrode group is adjustable to meet different application requirements. The schematic diagram of the arrangement of the holes 19 of the metal grounding plate 12 and the plasma outlet 14 is shown in FIG. Figure 4 , Figure 5 , Figure 6 shown.

[0035] Figure 7It is a schematic diagram of the circuit structure when the low-temperature plasma jet device treats the skin in one embodiment of the present invention. Specifically, after the plasma power supply 4 is turned on, the plasma outlet 14 and the metal grounding plate 12 are placed close to the treated skin 20, and the plasma 13 flows out from the plasma outlet 14. The low-temperature plasma jet generated by the plasma jet device will directly contact and treat the skin. After 1-5 minutes of treatment, the plasma power supply 4 is turned off and the ventilation is stopped. An appropriate amount of the drug used is input through the drug inlet 22. The drug enters each plasma outlet through the drug channel 21, and specifically contacts the skin 20 that has been treated by the low-temperature plasma jet and has opened the barrier through the plasma outlet 14, completing the drug administration operation. During the low-temperature plasma jet treatment process, the current will start from the plasma power supply 4, flow through the current limiting resistor 17 and the high-voltage electrode 16, and then flow into the plasma 13, and flow into the treated skin 20 uniformly in all directions through the contact point between the plasma 13 and the treated skin 20, and finally flow into the earth from the metal grounding plate 12. In the present invention, the metal grounding plate material can be stainless steel, copper or aluminum, the high-voltage electrode material can be tungsten, the handheld insulating shell and the high-voltage component mounting device material can be polytetrafluoroethylene, and the resistor mounting groove can be epoxy resin.

[0036] In an embodiment of the present invention, when the low-temperature plasma jet device is working normally, the current flowing through the skin starts from the plasma, passes through the small area of ​​skin in the corresponding hole of the metal grounding plate, and then flows into the grounding wire from the contact point between the metal grounding plate and the skin, and then flows into the earth and flows back to the plasma power supply. In this way, the path of the current flowing through the skin is very small, and it will not pass through the heart and other human tissues, which greatly reduces the damage of the current to the human body and improves the safety during use. The working gas can be air or rare gases such as helium, argon, neon, or a mixed gas composed of several of the above gases. When the low-temperature plasma jet device is working normally, the type and flow rate of the working gas can be flexibly changed to generate a low-temperature plasma jet. When air is used as the working gas, the air inlet does not need to be ventilated, and the air provided by the atmosphere can make the device work normally. The plasma power supply is a high-voltage DC power supply or a high-voltage DC pulse power supply.

[0037] Through the low-temperature plasma jet device disclosed in the present invention, an independent plasma beam is generated through an independent plasma generating chamber, which can achieve physical isolation of the plasma beam, and at the same time, the drug can only contact the skin area treated by the low-temperature plasma jet, various working gases can be used, and high-voltage DC power supplies and high-voltage DC pulse power supplies are compatible without changing the structure of the device. The plasma can be in direct contact with the skin without the need for an additional grounding body to be connected to the treated skin, and the low-temperature plasma jet device has a relatively high safety.

[0038] It will be easily understood by those skilled in the art that the above description is only a preferred embodiment of the present invention and is not intended to limit the present invention. Any modifications, equivalent substitutions and improvements made within the spirit and principles of the present invention should be included in the protection scope of the present invention.

Claims

1. A low-temperature plasma jet device, characterized in that: include: Plasma generator, plasma power supply and high voltage wire; The plasma generator is connected to the plasma power supply via the high voltage wire; The plasma generator includes multiple groups of high-voltage electrodes and multiple plasma generating chambers, one end of each high-voltage electrode is built into the plasma generating chamber, the plasma generating chamber is used to receive working gas and generate plasma when the plasma power supply is powered on, wherein each group of high-voltage electrodes generates a mutually independent plasma beam, and the plasma flows out from a plasma outlet in the plasma generator.

2. The low-temperature plasma jet device according to claim 1, characterized in that: The plasma generator also includes: a plurality of current limiting resistors; One end of the current limiting resistor is connected to the other end of the high voltage electrode, and the other end of the current limiting resistor is connected to the plasma power supply through the high voltage wire, so as to limit the current of the plasma during discharge; and The plasma generating chamber is used to receive the working gas through a gas channel, wherein the gas channel connects the plasma generating chamber, and the working gas includes air, helium, argon, and neon.

3. The low-temperature plasma jet device according to claim 2, characterized in that: The plasma generator also includes a metal grounding plate, which is connected to a common ground electrode via a grounding wire built into the wiring slot.

4. The low-temperature plasma jet device according to claim 3, characterized in that: The metal grounding plate includes a hole, the center of the hole is the same as that of the plasma outlet, and the diameter of the hole is greater than the diameter of the plasma outlet.

5. The low-temperature plasma jet device according to claim 2, characterized in that: The plasma generator also includes a drug inlet, through which drugs flow in and out of the plasma outlet.

6. The low-temperature plasma jet device according to claim 2, characterized in that: The plasma generator also includes a drug inlet, through which the drug flows into the plasma generating chamber and out of the plasma outlet.

7. The low-temperature plasma jet device according to claim 1, characterized in that: The plasma power supply is a high-voltage DC power supply and / or a high-voltage DC pulse power supply.

8. The low-temperature plasma jet device according to claim 2, characterized in that: The plasma generator further comprises a high-voltage component mounting device, a resistor mounting slot, and an electrode mounting slot. The resistor mounting slot and the electrode mounting slot are built into the high-voltage component mounting device, the current-limiting resistor is built into the resistor mounting slot, and the high-voltage electrode is built into the electrode mounting slot.

9. The low-temperature plasma jet device according to claim 8, characterized in that: The high-voltage component mounting device is fixed on the handheld insulating housing through a clamping groove.

10. The low-temperature plasma jet device according to claim 1, characterized in that: The height of the plasma generating chamber is 2mm-5mm.

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