Researchers have developed a revolutionary new plasma jet technology that effectively treats fungal nail infections, offering a promising solution to a common and stubborn health issue.
Tackling Trichophyton Rubrum
Fungal nail infection, known as onychomycosis, is a common disease frequently refractory to treatment. Trichophyton rubrum is the root cause of many of these infections and it can dig so deep that traditional treatments are not effective.
Now, a team lead by researchers at the Hefei Institutes of Physical Science of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) has created a new way to accomplish this — with a portable pulsed cold air plasma jet (PP-CAPJ) device. The technology in this treatment utilises plasma to penetrate directly through the nail and target the skin deep within and kill off the Trichophyton rubrum fungus.
They cultured a nail model with an onychomycosis infection and used the PP-CAPJ device to treat nails of different thicknesses. The result was quite impressive as the device could kill approximately up to 90% of Trichophyton rubrum nail fungus in just 300 spark discharges. All of this represents an important advancement about how to treat fungal infections, well known for their resilience.
The Shock Wave Science
The PP-CAPJ does its job via a shock wave. The device has been shown by the researchers experimentally to be able to deliver over 1 MPa of pressure instantaneously at the nail surface. This strong shockwave is what causes the Trichophyton rubrum fungus cell membranes to be destroyed properly by the device.
This is enough to cause a shock wave, that can penetrate through the nail into the deeper layers of fungal cells hiding inside. It offered a novel and potent route for low-temperature plasma-based therapy of fungal infections.
The researchers also confirmed the speed and pressure of the shock wave generated by the PP-CAPJ device, which further illustrated why it is able to kill fungi so well from a scientific perspective. This in-depth understanding of how the process works from the molecular level gives rise to even more refined treatment options that are smaller and work more efficiently across the cell in question.
Conclusion
This new plasma jet technology is a novel advancement in the treatment of fungal nail infections. Given its accelerated breakthrough in shock wave technology proved to target and destroy Trichophyton rubrum fungus, the PP-CAPJ device is a promising solution for an epidemic health problem with high performance and innovative approach. This technology shows great promise in changing how we diagnose and treat onychomycosis, and could alleviate the potential suffering of millions of patients affected by this problem as it is able to kill almost 90 % of the fungus in just a few hundred spark discharges.
