Plasma medicine is a new medical field with first very promising practical
studies. However, basic research needs to be done to minimize risk and
provide a scientific fundament for medical therapies. Therapeutic
application of plasmas at or in the human body is a challenge both for
medicine and plasma physics. Today, concepts of tailor-made plasma sources
which meet the technical requirements of medical instrumentation are still
less developed. To achieve selected effects and to avoid potential risks, it
is necessary to know how to control composition and densities of reactive
plasma components by external operation parameters. Therefore, a profound
knowledge on plasma physics and chemistry must be contributed by physical
research. Therapeutic applications required cold, non-thermal plasmas
operating at atmospheric pressure. These plasmas are a huge challenge for
plasma diagnostics, because usually they are small scale, constricted or
filamentary, and transient. Regarding the manageability in everyday medical
life, atmospheric pressure plasma jets (APPJ) and dielectric barrier
discharges (DBD) are of special interest for medical applications. Working
in open air atmospheres, complex plasma chemistry must be expected.
Considering that, a great deal of effort combining experimental
investigation and modelling is necessary to provide the required knowledge
on plasma sources for therapeutic applications.