In this study, we demonstrate an effective skin therapy device based on the plasma generated nitric oxide (NO) and needling techniques. The NO generator was constructed based on the dielectric barrier discharge plasma and combined with a commercial needling device. As a result, continueous flow of the NO could be supplied during needling treatment procedure. Several input voltages were investigated to generate plasma and study the optimum concentration of the generated NO. Furthermore, the synergetic effect of the NO exposure and needling technique to the collagen generation on the skin was analysed by both histological and gene expression methods on SKH-1 mice. Based on the histological examination, the samples treated with plasma showed an increased subcutaneous collagen density, and this effect was enhanced with a higher depth of needling. The differential gene expression of the Col4a5 gene was increased more than 100 times in the samples treated with a longer exposure of needling and plasma regardless of the depth. The results suggest that both needling and plasma treatment have a synergistic effect on the production of collagen which might be due mainly to the increased expression of the Col4a5 gene in the dorsal skin of SKH-1 mice.
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