Antimicrobial Resistance Research

Therapeutics & Diagnostics

Modelling cold plasma therapies for biofilm control

The use of cold atmospheric plasma as a means of biofilm control has considerable potential in battling AMR. The combination of direct damage and the localised introduction of a range of highly reactive chemical species leads to an effective means of biofilm removal and in such a way that would be difficult for bacteria to develop resistance. The application of cold plasma poses many questions. How long should an area be treated for optimum effect? How far do the reactive species spread in a biofilm? What qualities of the reactive species produce the best results? Such fine spatial-temporal detail cannot be analysed effectively using existing technologies, however, mathematical modelling incorporating the known biology and physics can make considerable steps towards validating current understanding and make predictions on how optimally to apply cold plasma devices.

Staff: J Ward; F.Iza, Y.Lo (PhD Student), R.Seager.