WORLD
Scientists create flashlight against bacteria
Baku, April 9 (AZERTAC). Scientists from the Institute of Physics have developed a flashlight that can instantly rid skin of bacteria.
The new digital solution—that appeared in the Journal of Physics D: Applied Physics—features a flashlight that is powered by a 12-volt battery and generates plasma between 68 -73.4 degrees Fahrenheit (20-23 degrees Celsius).
The heat produced by the flashlight—limited with a heat resistor—was capable of neautralizing bacteria, without harming skin.
According to Digital Trends, even thick biofilms of one of the most antibiotic- and heat-resistant bacterium, called eneterococcus faecalis, commonly-known for infecting root canals during dental treatments, could be treated and inactivated with the device`s plasma (layer by layer).
“The bacteria form thick biofilms, which makes them enormously resistant against inactivation which is extremely difficult to implement,” said Professor Kostya (Ken) Ostrikov of the Plasma Nanoscience Centre Australia, CSIRO Materials Science and Engineering, and co-author of the research.
“In this study, we chose an extreme example to demonstrate the plasma flashlight can be very effective even at room temperature.”
“For individual bacteria, the inactivation time could be just tens of seconds.” The device is safe to use and may be available in the future, as it only costs less than US$ 100 to be manufactured.
For now, some tweaks and modifications are still needed to be made—to make it more appealing for commercialization.