INP Greifswald e.V.

Plasma medicine for diabetes wound management: from science to prototype

Greifswald has become a leading international center for plasma medicine in recent years. One of the major reasons
for this development is the safety and tolerability of plasma applications. The establishment of the first professorship in the field is another indicator of plasma medicine‘s potential for the future. The Leibniz Institute for Plasma Science and Technology (INP Greifswald) is the largest non-university-affiliated institute in the field of low-temperature plasmas, their basic principles and their technical application in Europe. INPconducts application-oriented basic research and aims to improve established plasma-assisted procedures and products. INP also adapts plasmas to customer-specific needs and offers feasibility studies, consulting and other services. The therapeutic use of cold plasma sources is developing into a separate international medical field. The use of physical plasmas may become established in only a few years as a tool for fighting dangerous hospital-based infection sources as well as for introducing patient-friendly treatment methods. The therapeutic use of plasmas directly on or in the human
body is a totally new field that is rapidly raising interest all over the world under the name plasma medicine. A major
potential application area for plasma medicine involves the healing of wounds such as foot wounds, which are common in diabetics, because badly healing chronic wounds can make the affected patients‘ lives miserable.