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Carsten Mahrenholz is turning cold plasma from sci-fi metaphor into bedside reality
The first thing you notice about Dr. Carsten Mahrenholz, founder and CEO of Coldplasmatech, is that for him, wounds are never just injuries — they are unfinished recoveries. His way of speaking carries care, urgency, and a quiet refusal to accept “this is the best we can do.”
His team’s invention—CPT® Cold Plasma Therapy—has drawn its share of Star-Trek comparisons. Yet the appeal isn’t the gadgetry; it’s what it can give back: time without pain, movement without fear, and the possibility of healing where there was none.
From curiosity to calling
A biologist by training with a PhD in chemistry and an MBA, Mahrenholz moved early between labs and boardrooms, always looking for ideas that could truly help patients. In 2015, he co-founded Coldplasmatech as a spin-off from the Leibniz Institute for Plasma Science and Technology (INP) in Greifswald—a place where the fundamentals of physics advance biomedical application. What drew him in wasn’t the novelty; it was the stubbornness of chronic wounds and the human cost of living with them.
“Every medical invention must pass one test: does it give people back part of their humanity? In the lab we count cells and signals; at the bedside we see gratitude and relief. Only then does innovation become medicine in the truest sense.”
How the therapy works—simple, efective, light as air and in minutes
CPT® is built around two parts: the CPT®cube, a control unit, and the CPT®patch, an active, plasma-generating occlusive foil. The patch seals to the skin with an adhesive frame, creating a defined space over the wound; within that space, the device generates bioactive cold plasma from ambient air in a two-minute, automated treatment. Sealing the wound area matters: it keeps the plasma where it’s needed, treats the entire surface—even deep or irregular wounds—and makes the procedure consistent from clinician to clinician. The system is CE-marked as a Class IIb medical device in the EU.
What patients feel first
Patients usually talk less about physics and more about relief: dressing changes that no longer trigger pain; the first weeks in years when a wound finally shrinks; the quiet confidence to make plans again — a walk, a visit, a weekend away. Those stories sit behind the company’s mantra: from maintenance to restoration.
Evidence that keeps building
The multicenter randomized POWER study reported interim results in Journal of Clinical Medicine: adding CPT® to standard wound therapy led to >210% higher wound-closure factor at four weeks versus standard therapy alone, with significantly less antibiotic use, less pain, and better quality of life. Final results are pending, but the but the direction of evidence is clear—particularly because this device treats large wound areas in an automated, user independent way.
Where it’s already at work
Adoption is growing across Europe in a network of CPT® Plasma.Competence.Centers, including the Lower Saxony Severe Burn Center at Hannover Medical School (MHH), the first burn unit in Europe certified for CPT® use. Clinicians there report promising improvements when caring for complex burns—an arena where infections and pain can derail recovery.
The same technology has been used in a humanitarian setting at Sana Kliniken Benrath, where children — many of them traumatized or injured by war — brought to Germany by Friedensdorf International received CPT® cold-plasma wound therapy and finally healed up.
“True medicine doesn’t preserve what remains, it renews what was lost. Our task is to reactivate the body’s own healing power,
“ says Mahrenholz. “When that works—whether in a clinic in Europe or a field hospital abroad—you see more than recovery; you see humanity finding its way back.”
The business is healing—but also scale and trust
Bringing a new therapeutic category to market has meant years of regulatory, engineering, and clinical work. CPT® is now CE-marked (Class IIb), and the company partners with established manufacturers to scale a film-based patch with printed electronics—delivering plasma reliably through that occlusive foil.
In 2025, Coldplasmatech received the Ludwig-Bölkow Technology Prize and the German Innovation Award, adding to over 30 national and international honors for science, technology, and entrepreneurship. The company is widely regarded as a first mover in a paradigm shift from managing wounds to restoring the body’s own healing functions.
A strategic partnership with Royal Biologics points toward international expansion, particularly in the United States, where chronic wound care represents one of the fastest growing sectors in healthcare.
Reimbursement—what clinicians need to know
In Germany, statutory reimbursement for CPT® Cold Plasma Therapy is currently under active evaluation by the G-BA. While this process is ongoing, Coldplasmatech provides clinicians with comprehensive support to help integrate the therapy into clinical workflows and ensure patient access. In hospital settings, CPT® is already being used to optimize DRG outcomes by shortening hospital stays and reducing wound-related complications.
“Every healed wound is more than a medical success—it’s a life restored,” says Mahrenholz. The science may glow violet and Star-trek like, but its meaning is deeply human: less pain today, more life tomorrow.
