Researchers in China and Southern California are racing to develop easy-to-use devices that kill infectious bacteria by delivering a stream of “cold” plasma, thereby cutting down on the number of patients who have to repeat root canal procedures. Cold plasma, or atmospheric-pressure plasma, is ionized gas generated by applying brief pulses of high voltage to a controlled flow of air or mixtures of oxygen and inert gases, such as argon or helium. The resulting plasma is cool enough to touch. (source: spectrum.ieee.org)
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