Electrosurgical devices and systems having one or more porous electrodes are provided. An electrosurgical apparatus is provided having a shaft, a handle, and at least one porous electrode. The shaft is coupled to the handle and the at least one porous electrode is disposed on a distal tip of the shaft. The at least one porous electrode conducts energy provided to the distal tip and enables fluid provided to the distal tip to pass through the porous structure of the at least one electrode, such that the electrosurgical energy and the fluid are simultaneously applied to patient tissue adjacent to the at least one porous electrode. In one aspect, the electrosurgical apparatus includes a switching means configured to enable a user to select which of at least a first fluid, e.g. saline, or a second fluid, e.g., helium, to be provided to the distal tip.

A system for treating and/or preventing a viral, bacterial and/or fungal infection in the oral cavity and/or along the respiratory tract, in particular the interior of the nose, throat, trachea and/or lungs, of a patient by reactive species generated by plasma as well as a plasma for such use is disclosed. The system comprises a plasma source generating reactive species in a gas, the plasma source being configured to be located outside a body of the patient, and a species directing member forming at least one duct for guiding at least a part of the reactive species generated by the plasma source into the oral cavity and/or the respiratory tract.

The invention relates to an electrode arrangement for a plasma jet device comprising a first and a second printed circuit board each having an exposed surface of a circuit path serving as electrode and facing the other printed circuit board, a spacer arranged between the first and second circuit board and a plasma cell arranged between the first and second printed circuit board and the spacer wherein the plasma cell has a gas inlet and a plasma outlet. The invention further relates to a plasma head comprising said electrode arrangement.

Provided are methods of immunizing a viewport of a medical device against fogging before or during a medical procedure, and related apparatuses and devices. The methods comprise applying plasma to the viewport prior to use, thereby rendering a surface of the viewport highly hydrophilic. The methods eliminate or at least significantly reduce blur due to fogging.

A single non-thermal atmospheric plasma generation device is used to detect and analyze vital fields of a living subject to determine the presence of a condition, such as an illness or injury, and responsively modify characteristics of the plasma to treat, heal, or alleviate the condition. The device includes a capacitance dielectric discharge array of plasma emitters, and a controller having a power supply, a transformer, and circuit components for driving the transformer at a resonant frequency of the plasma emitters to cause the plurality of plasma emitters to ionize surrounding air and produce the non-thermal plasma. The resonant frequency is around 60 GHz and harmonics thereof. A receiver of the device recovers frequency mixing products from the plasma, which are extracted by signal processing circuitry; signals in the VHF and UHF bands are extracted and analyzed to determine whether signatures of particular vital fields are present.

Applications of dielectric barrier discharge (DBD) based atmospheric pressure plasma jets are often limited by the relatively small area of treatment due to their 1D configuration. This system generates 2D plasma jets permitting fast treatment of larger targets. DBD evolution starts with formation of transient anode glow, and continues with development of cathode-directed streamers. The anode glow can propagate as an ionization wave along the dielectric surface through and outside of the discharge gap. Plasma propagation is not limited to 1D geometry such as tubes, and can be organized in a form of a rectangular plasma jet, or other 2D or 3D shapes. Also described are a method for generating 2D plasma jets and use of the 2D plasma jets for cancer therapy.

A system for generating cold plasma is presented, suitable for use in in-vivo treatment of biological tissue. The system comprising: a control unit connectable to an elongated member at a first proximal end of the elongated member. The elongated member comprises a plasma generating unit at a second distal end thereof and gas and electricity transmission channels extending from said first proximal end towards said plasma generating unit. The control unit comprises a gas supply unit configured to provide predetermined flow rate of selected gas composition through said gas transmission channel and a power supply unit configured to generate selected sequence of high-frequency electrical pulses, typically in mega Hertz range, directed through said electricity transmission channel, thereby providing power and gas of said selected composition to the plasma generating unit for generating cold plasma.

Adjustable distal tips of cold plasma generating devices configured for introduction to and operation within narrow intra-body confines. In some embodiments, a plasma delivery tip of a cold plasma generating device is expandable from a compact delivery configuration, allowing device operation with plasma plume parameters difficult to achieve within size constraints of a narrow delivery catheter and/or endoscope working channel. Additionally or alternatively, in some embodiments, operating parameters of a plasma delivery tip are adjustable to tune characteristics of the plasma plume. Adjustable parameters optionally include, for example: lumen diameter, lumen aperture shape/direction, discharge electrode geometry, dielectric barrier characteristics, and/or relative placement of these components, including placement relative to a stream of ionizing gas. In some embodiments, plasma delivery tip elements are adapted to assist device navigation and/or tissue penetration.

Adjustable distal tips of cold plasma generating devices configured for introduction to and operation within narrow intra-body confines. In some embodiments, a plasma delivery tip of a cold plasma generating device is expandable from a compact delivery configuration, allowing device operation with plasma plume parameters difficult to achieve within size constraints of a narrow delivery catheter and/or endoscope working channel. Additionally or alternatively, in some embodiments, operating parameters of a plasma delivery tip are adjustable to tune characteristics of the plasma plume. Adjustable parameters optionally include, for example: lumen diameter, lumen aperture shape/direction, discharge electrode geometry, dielectric barrier characteristics, and/or relative placement of these components, including placement relative to a stream of ionizing gas. In some embodiments, plasma delivery tip elements are adapted to assist device navigation and/or tissue penetration.

A plasma treatment unit having a high-voltage stage (5, 6), arranged in a housing, for generating high-voltage signals suitable for the generation of a plasma, and having a head part (2) which is connectable to the high-voltage stage (5, 6) and in which there is situated an electrode arrangement (13) shielded by a dielectric (9), is suitable for plasma treatments in particular in the body interior by virtue of the fact that the head part (2) has an elongate transition piece (10) which is attachable to the housing and on that end of which which is not connectable to the housing there is arranged a treatment head (16, 16′), the dimensions of which perpendicular to the longitudinal direction of the transition piece (10) greatly exceed the dimensions of the transition piece (10), and that, in the treatment head (16, 16′), the electrode arrangement (13) forms a spatially closed flexible sheath (12) around a resiliently elastic core (14) and is covered at its outer lateral surface by a thin layer (15) of the flexible dielectric (9), such that the treatment head (16, 16′) can, as it is inserted into a body interior, assume the shape of the surrounding tissue in the body interior.