PIEZOBIO

This project consists in the study and development of a technological solution using piezoelectric materials for the production of plasma discharges at atmospheric pressure. The developed tool must be able to satisfy the specific requirements for the decontamination of the medical equipments such as endoscopes and narrow tube devices (catheter). Due to its remarkable physical and chemical properties, plasma discharges have become a subject of interest in the biological area, for over several decades due to their non thermal and reactive properties which allow the interaction with living tissues, cells and bacteria and predispose it to a multitude of applications, especially biomedical ones. Cold plasma is an efficient, non-aggressive and low heating solution, used for direct treatment of medical subjects and also for surface treatment without degrading characteristics / essential properties. Thus, cold plasma can be used for high level decontamination, especially for heat-sensitive materials and can replace toxic products and limit superfluous manipulation harmful to the treatment. If a lot of academic work is devoted to the understanding and improvement of the process, existing industry solutions do not completely take advantage of this technology, especially for sterilization issues. Nowadays, only one commercial equipment relies on a plasma treatment during its sterilization process. Besides, if some studies are devoted to the electrical dimension of the device, the architecture of the discharge generators as a way of improvement is not much investigated, particularly for the small size devices (for manual or endoscopic use). The need for high-voltage, for high electronic charge quantity, associated with operational constraints inherent in the medical area can restrict the conventional generation techniques. Nowadays, the idea of producing plasma discharges through piezoelectric effect, particularly with the use of piezoelectric transformer, has become totally attractive and original. The characteristics of this solution, such as low voltage, high permittivity, the miniaturization capability or controllability, favorably predispose it for the targeted area. The ability of these piezoelectric materials to generate spark has long been known and utilized in elementary ignition systems such as electronic lighters. It is now to take advantage of these dispositions to maintain the surrounding gas in a state of cold plasma. While some academic illustrations demonstrated this potential for generation and facilitated the understanding of physical principles in place, it becomes necessary to realize devices specifically designed and optimized for plasma generation, especially devoted to biomedical applications In addition, preliminary studies conducted in recent years in the laboratory of the project manager, have highlighted two favored ways of improvement: the design of piezoelectric transformers and their supply strategy. These two aspects constitute the core academic target of this collaborative project which it is necessary to associate the checking of biocide capabilities. With the industrial partners Anios and Sinaptec, this consortium have as an ambition to combine their skills in order to develop a solution overcoming the current restrictions when it comes to treat the thermo-sensitive material, especially narrow tubes. This will be achieved by working on the design of the discharge generators based on piezoelectric materials. The development of such a system would allow obtaining a rapid and precise solution easily usable for clinic and biomedical applications, affordable to anyone and free of use contrary to existing solutions slightly restrictive.