Plasma can efficiently inactivate microbial pathogens. Application of plasma on the skin can not only kill bacteria but also change the nature of skin. The influence of plasma jet treatment on the stratum corneum was investigated using the skin of a Yucatan micro pig. Microscopic observation of the histological skin section was used to characterize the etching effect of plasma jet depending on treatment time. Changes in lipid conformations were determined by the bandwidth and absorbance of the symmetric and asymmetric stretching of CH_2 and CH_3 bands and their ratios using ATR-FTIR spectroscopy. Plasma jet caused structural changes observed via an increase in bandwidth and a decrease in absorbance of the lipid vibrational bands. Plasma effects were saturated after 2 min of treatment. The influence of temperature and UV irradiation was also evaluated. The monitoring of plasma-treated skin demonstrated the temporal effect of changes caused by plasma.
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