Medical gas plasma is an experimental technology for anticancer
therapy. Here, partial gas ionization yielded reactive
oxygen and
nitrogen species, placing the technique at the heart of applied redox biomedicine. Especially with the gas plasma jet kINPen, anti-
tumor efficacy was demonstrated. This study aimed to examine the potential of using passive flow shaping to enhance the medical benefits of atmospheric plasma jets (APPJ). We used an in-house developed, proprietary Modular Nozzle System (
MoNoS; patent-pending) to modify the flow properties of a kINPen.
MoNoS increased the nominal plasma jet-derived reactive species deposition area and stabilized the air-plasma ratio within the active plasma zone while shielding it from external flow disturbances or gas impurities. At modest flow rates, dynamic pressure reduction (DPR) adapters did not augment reactive species deposition in liquids or
tumor cell killing. However,
MoNoS operated at kINPen standard
argon fluxes significantly improved
cancer organoid growth reduction and increased
tumor immunogenicity, as seen by elevated
calreticulin and
heat-shock protein expression, along with a significantly spurred
cytokine secretion profile. Moreover, the safe application of
MoNoS gas plasma jet adapters was confirmed by their similar-to-superior safety profiles assessed in the hen's egg chorioallantoic membrane (HET-CAM) coagulation and
scar formation irritation assay.