Bacteria-killing Pencil

kahrytan writes "Mounir Laroussi, a researcher at Old Dominion University has invented a hand-held device that is dubbed a plasma pencil. The pencil generates a "cold plasma," which can be used to kill germs that contaminate surfaces, infect wounds and rot your teeth. In the future, it might be used to destroy tumors without damaging surrounding tissue. When he turns the pencil on, it blows a high pitched whistle as a glowing, blue-violet beam about 2 inches long instantly appears at one end. Stick your finger in its path and you only feel a cool breeze, but the beam is powerful enough to blast apart bacteria that's crawling on your skin. Such a device if patented, tested and mass produced could end up doing a lot of good. Disinfecting surgery tools, keeping open wounds open in hospitals, destroying tumors in hard to operate areas like brains, and even treating that simple paper cut. The story can be read at dailypress and old dominion university."

Comments

Re:How come it only hurts the bacteria?

[Pig Hogger]

I don't understand how this can blow apart bacteria but not blow apart your skin cells.

Because the epidemis of your skin is made of dead cells... You can't kill what's dead already... :)

And bacterial cell membrane are a lot more fragile than the dead cells of your skin.

Wine Making

[purduephotog]

I make wine and my wife makes beer in our home. The current sterilization procedure for bacteria prevention involves the following:

1) Rinse out container with hot water
2) Soap out container (dishwasher soap) with awkward brush. Get all surfaces well wetted.
3) Rinse 3x to remove soap residue
4) Bleach container to 1% in hot water and let sit for 1 hour (massive headaches- bleach fumes- vent out the window)
5) Rinse container 4x to remove bleach residue
6) Mix Sodium Metabisulfite and Citric Acid in 1:1 ratio and coat all surfaces inside container for 30 sec - 1 minute. Fumes are nose + throat searing
7) Rinse 4x to guarantee removal.
8) Cap with plastic.

Takes about 1.5 hours for 2 jugs to go through the entire procedure.

Give me a portable plasma generator that can do the entire surface and I've just increased my productivity significantly as well as having less time downstairs and more time drinking the 'fruits' of the labor.