A new cleaning technology could replace or supplement the soap, water, and disinfectants used at hospitals to wash hands. Plasma gas sprayed on hands through machines developed by researchers in Germany can kill bacteria and other biological contaminants:
Does the photo remind anyone else of the pain box from Dune?
Link via Gizmodo | Photo: Phil Wilson/NYT
The technology is being developed in several laboratories. Gregor Morfill, who created several prototypes using the technology at the Max Planck Institute for Extraterrestrial Physics in Garching, Germany, says the plasma quickly inactivates not only bacteria but also viruses and fungi.
Dr. Morfill and his colleagues have tested their devices on hands and feet. “It works on athlete’s foot,” he said. “And the nice thing is, you don’t have to take your socks off. They are disinfected, too.”[...]
The first products to reach hospitals, after surface cleaners and instrument disinfectants, will probably be hand sanitizers, said Alexander Fridman, a professor and director of the Drexel Plasma Institute at Drexel University in Philadelphia.
Does the photo remind anyone else of the pain box from Dune?
Link via Gizmodo | Photo: Phil Wilson/NYT
From our lovely Wikipedia:
A plasma can be considered as a gas of highly ionized particles, but the powerful interionic forces lead to distinctly different properties, so that it is usually considered as a different phase or state of matter.