AVS 64th International Symposium & Exhibition
    Plasma Processing for Biomedical Applications Focus Topic Monday Sessions
       Session PB+BI+PS-MoA

Paper PB+BI+PS-MoA5
Advanced Control of Plasma Medical Devices

Monday, October 30, 2017, 3:00 pm, Room 12

Session: Plasma Agriculture & Processing of Biomaterials
Presenter: David Graves, University of California, Berkeley
Authors: D.B. Graves, University of California, Berkeley
A. Mesbah, University of California at Berkeley
D. Gidon, University of California at Berkeley
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Atmospheric pressure plasma jets (APPJs) have widespread use in plasma medicine. This presentation aims to demonstrate the importance of using advanced control strategies for safe, reproducible, and therapeutically effective application of APPJs for dose delivery to a target substrate. Key challenges in advanced control of APPJs arise from: (i) the multivariable, nonlinear nature of system dynamics, (ii) the need to constrain the system operation within an operating region that ensures safe plasma treatment, and (iii) the cumulative, non-decreasing nature of dose metrics. To systematically address these challenges, we propose a model predictive control (MPC) strategy for real-time control of a radio-frequency APPJ in argon. To this end, a lumped-parameter, physics-based model is developed for describing the jet dynamics, and cumulative dose metrics are defined for quantifying the thermal and non-thermal energy effects of the plasma on substrate. The closed-loop performance of the MPC strategy is compared to that of basic proportional-integral control. Simulation results indicate that MPC provides a versatile framework for dose delivery in the presence of system disturbances, while fulfilling the safety and practical constraints of APPJ operation. In addition, we demonstrate the use of advanced control in experimental APPJ systems. Advanced control can lead to unprecedented opportunities for effective dose delivery in plasma medicine.