Battery-Powered Plasma Flashlight Makes Short Work Of Bacteria

This is interesting, nobody seems to know why it works....What is the deactivation methodology ? If we knew what this mechanism is, we might use the technology on a broader scale....thoughts?

It would be interesting to read the original paper - obviously, they had to examine the biofilms to determine that they had been disrupted/killed. A close examination of the disrupted biofilms and individual bacteria should provide some rationale for the effect.

The 'flashlight' design seems more useful for the research purpose than it is for practical applications. The area affected is very small, and the time exposure required was 5 minutes. Imagine applying this to a large skin area, at 5 minutes a pop... there are more practical methods available. Or maybe it is designed for a specific usage with a small surface area eg disinfect a route canal, really.

This looks like the paper...

http://iopscience.iop.org/0022-3727/45/16/165205

Looks like a normal high voltage high frequency electric arc plasma to me.

Odds are its killing the bacteria by electrocution.

You probably could make a simple DIY version with a flyback transformer from a computer monitor and the right driver circuits for well under the $100 as well.

This is way too expensive. A few years ago I developed mrsa on one of my hands and finally ended up killing it with a $3. blue led flashlight--the old kind that had a violet tint. This was after taking large quantities of antibiotics for a month and a half without positive results. In fact it was spreading across and around my hand. I researched light therapy and thought I'd give it a try, as the pills weren't working. After one treatment, for about 45' I noticed that night it was starting to itch. The next day it was turning brown. After the 2nd day's treatment it was completely dead on the 3rd day. That's why I say this is not a new idea or as economical as it could be. Actually, the Eastern Block countries were working hard on this concept back during the cold war years because they didn't have money for more exotic treatments. Most of their research has net to be translated, from what I've been able to gather. I also find it interesting that almost nobody believes me when I say it a flashlight save my hand and maybe my life but to tell the truth I don't much care.