PLASMA TREATMENT DEVICE

Description

[0001] The invention relates to a plasma treatment device for performing a dielectrically hindered plasma treatment of a surface.

[0002] Such a plasma treatment device is known from DE 10 2014 013 716 A1. The electrode unit is designed as a flat unit with a flat electrode arrangement and a flat dielectric. The materials can be selected such that the electrode unit, which can be placed on a wound or skin surface, can flexibly adapt to the surface. The electrode unit is provided with a projection into which both the electrode arrangement and the dielectric extend. The projection of the electrode unit can be inserted into a receptacle of a power supply unit and can be mechanically held there by a lever clamping mechanism. This simultaneously establishes electrical contact between the electrode arrangement and the power supply unit.The supply unit contains a high-voltage stage that generates the high voltage required for the dielectrically restricted plasma treatment from a supplied mains voltage, regularly in the form of high-voltage alternating pulse trains.

[0003] In the known treatment device, the electrode unit can be connected to the supply unit in an interchangeable manner because the electrode unit is designed for single use. This has the advantage that the electrode units can be produced and packaged sterile, and sterilization measures before or after use of the electrode unit are not required.

[0004] DE 10 2014 220 488 A1 discloses a device for generating a cold atmospheric plasma. The device comprises at least a first electrode layer and a second electrode layer, with a dielectric layer arranged between the first and second electrode layers. Each electrode layer has at least one electrode, so that a weak atmospheric plasma can be generated by applying an electrical voltage to the electrodes. Each device can include an information carrier for storing operating parameters.

[0005] The present invention is based on the objective of designing a plasma treatment device of a previously known type in such a way that it is usable for a wider range of applications and is easy to handle.

[0006] The invention solves the problem by means of a plasma treatment device with the features of claim 1.

[0007] The present invention is based on the idea that the interchangeability of the electrode unit, achieved through the detachable connection between the power supply unit and the electrode unit, fundamentally allows the same power supply unit to be used with different electrode units. In particular, different-sized electrode units can be used in wound care to treat wound areas of varying sizes with dielectrically inhibited plasma, thereby reducing germs in the wound area and promoting healing by stimulating microcirculation. However, when different-sized electrode units are connected to the power supply unit, the problem arises that the power supply unit produces voltage pulses with constant energy levels, even though the different-sized electrode units require different energy inputs.The coding of the electrode unit according to the invention now makes it possible to connect electrode units of different sizes to the supply unit and to supply the electrode unit with the amount of energy adapted to its size.

[0008] Similarly, based on the coding of the electrode unit, it is possible to adapt the voltage supplied by the power supply unit to the electrode unit if one electrode unit is designed and configured for wound care and another for cosmetic treatment of the skin surface. In this way, suitable treatment programs can be provided by the power supply unit for each electrode unit. Therefore, the coding according to the invention can be applied not only to different electrode sizes but also to differently designed electrodes adapted for specific applications, for example, through different configurations of the treatment side of the electrode unit.

[0009] Furthermore, it is possible to adjust the high voltage supplied to the electrode unit according to whether skin-conditioning or healing substances are applied to the treatment side, as is known, for example, from DE 10 2015 111 401 B3 or DE 10 2013 019 057 A1. Similarly, the possible supply of liquid or gaseous substances through insulated channels in the dielectric (cf. DE 10 2014 013 716 A1) can also be taken into account.

[0010] The coding according to the invention is formed on the electrode unit.

[0011] If the electrode unit has a projection that can be inserted into a slot-shaped receptacle in the power supply unit and carries the coding, the mechanical connection, electrical contact, and transmission of the coding can all be achieved through the projection's design. In a mechanical embodiment of the coding, these projections can take the form of adjacent raised sections, and the recognition device can be configured with toggle switches actuated by these sections. In this embodiment, the toggle switches can detect the coding and control the corresponding supply voltage, provided the toggle switches are designed to switch the supply voltage in the power supply unit.

[0012] Alternatively, the increases can also be evaluated without a power supply by, for example, applying pressure to piezoelectric elements in the power supply unit and thus converting the coding into voltage signals.

[0013] If the coding is in optical form and can be detected by an optical recognition device in the supply unit, a power supply is required for the recognition device.

[0014] This is also the case if the electrode unit contains a transponder for coding that can be wirelessly queried by the power supply unit's detection device. To ensure that the detection device only recognizes the electrode unit to which the power supply unit is mechanically and electrically connected, the power supply unit may include a detector that generates a query signal for the detection device when a connection is established between the power supply unit and the electrode unit. This ensures that the query only takes place when the electrode unit is connected to the power supply unit.

[0015] Another possibility for detecting the coding and controlling the supply voltage is that the coding is carried out by means of at least one permanent magnet in the electrode unit, with which at least one switch of the supply unit can be actuated when the electrode unit is connected to the supply unit.

[0016] It is readily apparent that the connection between the electrode unit and the power supply unit can be made in any manner known to a person skilled in the art, provided that a touch-proof electrical connection and a mechanical connection that cannot unintentionally detach are established. The invention is therefore not limited to a specific design of the electrode unit and / or the power supply unit.

[0017] The power supply unit can be connected to a standard power supply via a cable. Alternatively, the high voltage can be supplied directly to the power supply unit, which then simply modifies it according to the coding. Furthermore, the power supply unit can be self-sufficient, generating the required high-voltage signals from a battery. The batteries are conveniently located within the power supply unit itself.

[0018] The invention will be explained in more detail below using a non-limiting embodiment. The figures show: Figure 1a) a horizontal section through an embodiment of a supply unit and a top view of an electrode unit; Figure 1b) a vertical section along line AA from Figure 1a) through the power supply unit and a side view of the electrode unit; Figure 1c) a top view of the power supply unit and the electrode unit, each in the unconnected state; Figures 2a) to 2c) representations according to the Figures 1a) to 1c ), however, in the connected state of the supply unit and electrode unit; Figures 3a) to 3c) the representations according to Figures 1a) to 1c ) only for the supply unit in standby mode; Figures 4a) and 4b) the embodiment according to Figure 1 with a schematic representation of the electronics in the disconnected state of the power supply unit and electrode unit; Figures 5a) and 5b) which show the Figure 4corresponding representations in the connected state of the electrode unit and power supply unit; Figure 6 a cross-section to illustrate the toggle switch positions in the connected state of the electrode unit and power supply unit; Figures 7a) and 7b) sectional views of a second embodiment with magnetic actuation of microswitches in the unconnected state of the electrode unit and power supply unit; Figures 8a) and 8b) the representations according to Figure 7 in the connected state of the electrode unit and the power supply unit; Figure 9, a cross-sectional view according to Figure 6 for the second embodiment; Figures 10a) and 10b) a representation of a third embodiment with optical detection in the disconnected state of the power supply unit and electrode unit; Figure 11 the representations according to Figure 10 in the connected state of the supply unit and electrode unit.

[0019] In the Figures 1 to 3The mechanical design features of a first embodiment are primarily presented. Figure 1 Figure 1 shows an electrode unit 1, which is formed in a planar form. The drawing only depicts a dielectric 2, in which through-holes 3 are distributed across the surface. These through-holes allow wound exudate to be aspirated when the electrode unit 1 is used as a wound dressing, or, in other treatment cases, allow a gas or liquid to be introduced onto the skin surface. The dielectric 2 has thin, flexible extensions 4 that are adhesively formed on a treatment side 5 of the electrode unit 1, thus enabling the electrode unit 1 to be attached to the skin of a human body, similar to an adhesive bandage. Since only views of the electrode unit 1 are shown and the dielectric 2 completely surrounds the electrode arrangement, the electrode arrangement is not shown in the drawing. Figures 1 to 3 not shown.

[0020] The electrode unit 1, i.e., the dielectric 2 with the electrode arrangement embedded therein, is planar. Accordingly, the electrode unit has a large treatment side and a large opposite top surface 7, the dimensions of which are large compared to the height, i.e., the distance between treatment side 5 and top surface 7. Preferably, the material of the dielectric 2 and the electrode embedded therein is flexible, so that the electrode unit 1 can adapt to an irregular skin surface.

[0021] The extension 6 encompasses both the dielectric 2 and the electrode arrangement embedded within it. On the upper surface, at the free end of the extension 6, two ridge-shaped protrusions 8 are shown side by side, occupying approximately two-thirds of the width of the extension 6. Thus, three such protrusions 8 could be arranged across the width of the extension 6. The presence of a protrusion 1 corresponds to a digital "1", the absence of a protrusion to a digital "0". As is known, 2³ ≤ 8 different encodings can be implemented with three bits. In many cases, this number of encoding possibilities is not required, so in some cases only two protrusions (four different encodings) or only one protrusion (two different encodings) can be used. Of course, the number of protrusions 8 can also be increased if this appears necessary.

[0022] The dielectric 2 is preferably formed by a castable or injection-moldable plastic. The embedded electrode can be a flexible metal foil or a thin layer of a plastic containing conductive additives. Preferably, the material of the dielectric 2 and the embedded electrode are of the same type, for example, both silicones.

[0023] In In the illustrated embodiment, the elevations 8 are designed in the form of a ramp, the function of which is explained in more detail below.

[0024] The electrode unit 1 can be connected to a supply unit 10. The connection is made via the adapter 6, for which the supply unit 10 has a slotted receptacle 11 in a housing 12. The slotted receptacle 11 can be closed or opened by means of a two-armed actuating lever 13. The two-armed actuating lever 13 is rotatably mounted on a pivot axis 14 located in the housing 12. A front end 15 of the actuating lever is angled to close the slotted receptacle 11 and forms two locking lugs 16, 16' arranged one behind the other in the insertion direction of the adapter 6. On the other arm of the two-armed lever 13, a grooved push-button surface 18 is located at the rear end 17, with which the actuating lever 13 is pressed into the housing against the force of a return spring 19. This pressed position is in Figure 1b) shown. In this position, the slot-shaped receptacle 11 is open and allows the insertion of the attachment 6 of the electrode unit 1.

[0025] Covered by the actuating lever, which extends essentially across the width of the pivot axis 14, three rocker arms 20 are rotatably mounted on the same pivot axis 14, their width corresponding to the width of the raised sections 8. The rocker arms 20 are also designed as two-armed levers and have a bend 22 at their front end 21, which can slide on the ramp-shaped raised section 8 as a tactile lever.

[0026] The other arm of the two-armed rocker arm 20, forming a rear end 23 beyond the axis of rotation 14, is supported against the housing 12 by means of a spring 24, which biases the front end 21 towards the closure of the slotted receptacle 11. A ridge 25 causes the rear end 23 of the rocker arm 20 to rest against the underside of the actuating lever 13, so that when the key surface 18 is pressed, the rocker arms pivot together with the actuating lever 13.

[0027] The rear end 23 of the rocker arm 20 also acts on an associated switch 26 on a circuit board 27 inside the housing 12.

[0028] The slot-shaped receptacle 11 forms an insertion channel, on the bottom of which is a contact projection that interacts with a corresponding mating contact on the underside of the extension 6. The extension 6 has corresponding mating contacts on its underside, which, in the inserted state, serve for the electrical contacting of the electrode unit 1 with the supply unit 10. The contact projection 28 is - in Figure 1 not shown - connected to an electronic part of the power supply unit 10.

[0029] Figure 2 illustrates the inserted state of electrode unit 1 into supply unit 10. In particular Figure 2a Figure 1 shows that the return spring 19 presses the actuating lever 13 against the projection 6, with the front locking bar 16 engaging behind the ramp-shaped elevation 8. Additionally, the further locking bar 16' presses on the top of the elevation 8, thus securing the locking mechanism.

[0030] Figure 2b Figure 2 further illustrates that where protrusions 8 are present, the associated rocker arms 20 are pressed at their front end against the restoring force of the spring 24, so that the rear end 23 of the rocker arm 20 actuates the associated switch 26. The three switches 26 present in this embodiment thus convert the presence of the protrusions 8, which act as coding, into corresponding electrical switching signals.

[0031] The Figures 3a) to 3c Figures 1 and 2 illustrate the rest position of the supply unit 10, in which the return spring 19 presses the actuating lever 13 into a position that completely closes the slotted receptacle 11, and the front end of the rocker arms 20 is also pressed towards the bottom of the slotted receptacle 11 by the spring 24. It can be seen that by pressing on the key surface 18 of the actuating lever 13, not only is the actuating lever 13 rotated, but also the three rocker arms 20 via the ridge 25.

[0032] The Figures 4 to 6 The first embodiment is shown with a schematic representation of the electronics. The vertical section in Figure 4a ) according to the intersection line FF in Figure 4b Figure 4a) and the horizontal section BB corresponding to the section line show that the electrode unit contains an electrode arrangement consisting of two planar electrodes 29, 29', which are mirror images of each other. The two electrodes are separated by a central insulating bridge 30 formed by the dielectric 2, which extends into the projection 6. Similarly, the electrodes 29, 29' extend into the projection 6 and form contact strips 31, 31' on both sides of the insulating bridge 30.

[0033] Figure 4bThe figure shows that at the end of the extension 6, the dielectric material 2 is missing on the underside of the extension 6 in the area of ​​the contact strips 31, 31', forming groove-shaped recesses 32 in which the contact strips 31, 31' are freely accessible. The groove-shaped recesses 32 are designed such that the contact projections 28 protrude into them when the electrode unit 1 is inserted into the supply unit 10. At the end of the insertion movement, the contact projection 28 contacts the corresponding contact strip 31, 31', thereby establishing the electrical connection between the supply unit 10 and the electrode unit 1.

[0034] The electrical part of the power supply unit 4 contains batteries 33, so that the power supply unit 10 operates autonomously according to this embodiment, i.e., it does not require a supply line. A circuit board 34 for generating an intermediate voltage is connected to the batteries 33. In a controller 35, represented by an integrated circuit, the battery DC voltage is chopped and converted into voltage pulses. These voltage pulses are directed to two coils 36, 36', generating high-voltage pulses. Due to oscillations, the high-voltage pulses can contain several oscillations with decreasing amplitude. The high-voltage pulses generated by the coils 36, 36' are out of phase, so that the sum of their instantaneous amplitudes is always zero. "Zero" is a reference potential, for example, ground.

[0035] The out-of-phase high-voltage pulses reach the two contact projections 28, so that the two electrodes 29, 29' are each supplied with high-voltage pulses that are out of phase and of equal magnitude. These pulses generate the corresponding plasma fields below the electrodes 29, 29'.

[0036] In the horizontal section according to Figure 4aIt is also apparent that the electrodes 29, 29' around the openings 3 of the dielectric 2 have recesses 37, which are larger than the openings 3, so that in the area of ​​the openings 3, material of the dielectric 2 in the recesses 37 limits the openings 3. In this way, direct contact of a fluid with the electrodes 29, 29' is avoided. Furthermore, it is apparent that on the treatment side 5, the dielectric 2 forms chambers 39 in the planar area of ​​the electrodes 29, 29', bounded by webs 38. These chambers are open towards the treatment side and are bounded horizontally by the webs 38 and on the top side by the dielectric 2. The webs 38 can be intersecting webs of the same height, so that rectangular or square chambers 39 are formed.The chambers 39 represent a structuring of the treatment side 5 of the dielectric 2, which ensures that a plasma for treatment can be generated in air spaces on the treatment side 5 by the electrode. The structuring shown using the chambers 39 is merely an example, as other structurings may also be suitable, such as bumps that are oriented towards the surface to be treated and whose upper surfaces rest against the surface to be treated, forming air spaces for the plasma between them.

[0037] Figure 5a) and 5b Figures 1 and 10 show electrode unit 1 and supply unit 10 in their connected state. Mechanically, this state is defined by the... Figure 2 This has already been explained. Figure 5b ) shows how the (only partially cut away) contact projection 28 fits into the recess 32 (cf. Figure 4b)) engages on the underside of the attachment 6 and thus directly contacts the contact strip 31 of the electrode 29.

[0038] The high-level cut through the supply unit 10 in the area of ​​coils 36, 36' according to Figure 6 The coding is illustrated by the raised sections 8 and the rocker arms 20 that they actuate or do not actuate. Furthermore, it allows Figure 6 A connecting line 40, 40' suitable for high voltages is located between the associated coil 36, 36' and the associated contact projection 28. The contact projection 28 contacts the contact strip 31, 31' of the associated electrodes 29, 29', so that the high-voltage pulses generated in the coils 36, 36' are transmitted to the electrodes 29, 29' in opposite phase.

[0039] The in the Figure 7 and 8The second embodiment shown is structurally essentially identical to the first embodiment and differs from it only in that a magnetic coding is provided at the end of the projection 6. The protrusions 8 of the first embodiment are replaced by an arrangement of two small permanent magnets 41, to which microswitches 42 are assigned in the power supply unit 10, shown only in its front part. In the illustrated embodiment, three microswitches 42 are provided, which can be actuated by one, two, or three permanent magnets 41. The number and position of the permanent magnets 41 thus determine the coding.

[0040] Figure 8 shows the connected state of electrode unit 1 and supply unit 10. The high-resolution view of the Figure 9 clarifies the coding according to Figure 6corresponding position of the microswitches 42, two of which are attracted into a switching position by the permanent magnets 41, while one of the microswitches 42 remains in a spring-loaded rest position because no permanent magnet 41 is arranged for it in the base 6.

[0041] In the Figure 10 and 11 In the third embodiment, which is depicted in the same manner, an optical coding device 43 is located at the front end of the extension 6 and a corresponding optical reading device 44 with corresponding scanning positions, which corresponds to the positions of the optical coding device 43, is located in the supply unit when the electrode unit is in accordance with Figure 11The supply unit 10 is inserted into the optical reading device 44. For example, the presence of a blackened area is recognized as a "1" signal and a non-blackened area as a "0" signal. In one variant, instead of this optical coding, the attachment 6 can also be provided with a barcode, and the supply unit 10 can have a barcode reader. The barcode itself can then contain information about the size of the treatment area of ​​the electrode device 1.

[0042] It is readily apparent that any further optical or other coding methods can be implemented within the scope of the present invention.

Claims

1. A plasma treatment device for conducting a dielectric barrier plasma discharge with (a) an electrode unit (1) comprising a treatment side (5) and (b) a power pack (10) that can be mechanically connected and electrically contacted to the electrode unit (1) in order to supply it with the supply voltage required for plasma generation, (c) wherein the electrode unit (1) comprises an electrode arrangement that is shielded at least on the treatment side (5) by a flat dielectric (2), (d) wherein an interchangeability of the electrode unit (1) is effected by a detachable connection between power pack (10) and electrode unit (1), said interchangeability allowing the same power pack (10) to be used with different electrode units (1) such that electrode units (1) of different sizes can be used to treat a wound, wherein (e) the electrode units (1) have a coding for their electrode size, (f) the power pack (10) comprises a detection device for the coding of the electrode size and (g) the detection device is connected to a control device, which controls the supply voltage for plasma generation as a function of the detected coding of the electrode size in such a way that the electrode unit (1) is supplied with an amount of energy adjusted to its size.

2. The plasma treatment device according to claim 1, characterised in that the electrode unit (1) comprises an attachment (6) which can be inserted into a mount (11) of the power pack (10) and that the attachment (6) carries the coding.

3. The plasma treatment device according to claim 1 or 2, characterised in that the coding is configured mechanically in the form of elevations (8) and the detection device has toggle switches (20) that can be activated by way of the elevations (8).

4. The plasma treatment device according to claim 3, characterised in that the toggle switches (20) are configured to switch the supply voltage in the power pack (10).

5. The plasma treatment device according to claim 1 or 2, characterised in that the coding is configured in an optical form and the power pack (10) is fitted with an optical detection device.

6. The plasma treatment device according to claim 1 or 2, characterised in that the coding is achieved by means of at least one permanent magnet, with which at least one switch of the power pack (10) can be activated.

7. The plasma treatment device according to claim 1 or 2, characterised in that the electrode unit (1) contains a transponder that can be queried by means of the detection device of the power pack (10).

8. The plasma treatment device according to claim 7, characterised in that a detector of the power pack (10) detects the connection established between power pack (10) and electrode unit (1) and then generates a query signal for the detection device.