Long citation

Eric Robert and Sébastien Dozias are not only pioneers in the development of plasma jets at atmospheric pressure but also in their applications to medicine, cosmetics and well-being. Their major contribution was essential in the understanding and development of long-distance plasma jets and multijets which not only allowed them to achieve firsts and breakthroughs in the fields mentioned above, but also served as the basis for numerous works carried out by other teams around the world.

Robert and Dozias developed a plasma jet, the Plasma Gun (PG), in 2005-2006. This was patented in 2007 (US 60/999,083). This plasma jet at atmospheric pressure at long distances (a few centimeters to several meters) in several rare gases (He, Ne, Ar) was the basic tool for their first studies of the interactions between plasmas and biological targets. The plasma jet of the PG is produced using high voltage microsecond pulses (1-40 kV) at frequencies ranging from single-shot to several tens of kilohertz. Control and on-demand matching of the high voltage waveforms provided a unique opportunity to achieve major breakthroughs in the physics of the plasma jets. These include the key interactions between plasma jets and various targets, including those relevant for biological/biomedical applications. Robert and Dozias demonstrated the potential provided by the ability of the plasma jet to allow the production of multijets, from a single reactor, making possible the treatment of large surfaces. Their work also led to a better understanding of the processes linked to the production of the main reactive species, RONS, whose role is essential in the effects observed, particularly in plasma medicine, and those linked to plasma/gaseous environment interactions influencing the channeling of the carrier gas that is important for applications.

The use of the PG allowed Robert and Dozias to achieve several firsts in plasma medicine and plasma biology which have led to numerous other works carried out by other teams and to hospital applications, in particular in the areas of cancer and chronic wound treatment. With their team, Robert and Dozias carried out the first in vivo plasma cancer study and the first study showing the beneficial effect of combined use of plasma/chemotherapy in the treatment of cancer, since then confirmed by others. Another important first is the demonstration of the induction of a temporary increase in oxygenation and blood flow in the treated tissues. This result, subsequently confirmed by other teams, is extremely important in the treatment of chronic wounds and more generally in all treatments where oxygenation plays a major role, with applications now envisaged in sports medicine. It is also important to note their pioneer work on time resolved characterization of the intense transient electric field inherent to the plasma jets ignition and propagation and its delivery in interaction with various substrates. This allowed them to highlight the major role played by the plasma induced electric field, both at the cellular and skin levels, important for applications in cosmetics and dermatology. Very recently, they applied a multi-branched PG system to natural and synthetic fiber treatment, leading to a patented process in Europe and the USA.

Beyond applications in medicine, cosmetics, disinfection and material treatment, it is important to note that the work of Robert and Dozias, in collaboration with many other teams around Europe, recently led to a successful application to establish a European Doctoral Network on the use of multijets for the treatment of actinic keratosis. This project will be a unique opportunity to train eight early career researchers to plasma jet technology for innovative approach in cancer therapy, with the main objective of translating this laboratory-inspired research effort to medical institutions.