- Articles about LED -
* If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to
Contact Us!
The NASA Light-Emitting Diode Medical Program –
Progress in Space Flight and Terrestrial Applications
Abstract. This work is supported and managed through the NASA Marshall Space Flight Center – SBIR Program. Studies on cells exposed to microgravity and hypergravity indicate that human cells need gravity to stimulate cell growth. As the gravitational force increases or decreases, the cell function responds in a linear fashion. This poses significant health risks for astronauts in long term space flight. LED-technology developed for NASA plant grown experiments in space shows promise for delivering light deep into tissues of the body to promote wound healing and human tissue growth. This LED-technology is also biologically optimal for photodynamic therapy of cancer.
LED-ENHANCEMENT OF CELL GROWTH
The application of light therapy with the use of NASA LED’s will significantly improve the medical care that is available to astronauts on long-term space missions. NASA LED’s stimulate the basic energy processes in the mitochondria (energy compartments) of each cell, particularly when near-infrared light is used to activate the color sensitive chemicals (chromophores, cytochrome systems) inside. Optimal LED wavelengths include 680, 730 and 880 nm. The depth of near-infrared light penetration into human tissue has been measured spectroscopically (Chance, et al 1988). Spectra taken from the wrist flexor muscles in the forearm and muscles in the calf of the leg demonstrate that most of the light photons at wavelengths between 630-800 nm travel 23 cm through the surface tissue and muscle between input and exit at the photon detector. Our laboratory has improved the healing of wounds in laboratory animals by using NASA LED light and hyperbaric oxygen. Furthermore, DNA synthesis in fibroblasts and muscle cells has been quintupled using NASA LED light alone, in a single application combining 680, 730, and 880 nm each at 4 Joules per centimeter squared.
Muscle and bone atrophy are well documented in astronauts, and various minor injuries occurring in space have been reported not to heal until landing on Earth. Long term space flight, with its many inherent risks, also raises the possibility of astronauts being injured performing their required tasks. The fact that the normal healing process is negatively affected by microgravity requires novel approaches to improve wound healing and tissue growth in space. NASA LED arrays have already flown on Space Shuttle missions for studies of plant growth. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved human trials. The use of light therapy with LED’s is an approach to help increase the rate of wound healing in the microgravity environment, reducing the risk of treatable injuries becoming mission catastrophes.
Wounds heal less effectively in space than here on Earth. Improved wound healing may have multiple applications which benefit civilian medical care, military situations and long-term space flight. Laser light and hyperbaric oxygen have been widely acclaimed to speed wound healing in ischemic, hypoxic wounds. An excellent review of recent human experience with near-infrared light therapy for wound healing was published by Conlan, et al in 1996. Lasers provide low energy stimulation of tissues which results in increased cellular activity during wound healing (Beauvoit, 1989, 1995; Eggert, 1993; Karu, 1989; Lubart, 1992, 1997; Salansky, 1998; Whelan, 1999; Yu, 1997). Some of these activities include increased fibroblast proliferation, growth factor syntheses, collagen production and angiogenesis.
Lasers, however, have some inherent characteristics, which make their use in a clinical setting problematic, including limitations in wavelengths and beam width. The combined wavelengths of light optimal for wound healing cannot be efficiently produced, and the size of wounds which may be treated by lasers is limited. Light-emitting diodes (LED’s) offer an effective alternative to lasers. These diodes can be made to produce multiple wavelengths, and can be arranged in large, flat arrays allowing treatment of large wounds. Our experiments suggest potential for using LED light therapy at 680, 730 and 880 nm simultaneously, alone and in combination with hyperbaric oxygen therapy, both alone and in combination, to accelerate the healing process in Space Station Missions, where prolonged exposure to microgravity may otherwise retard healing. NASA LED’s have proven to stimulate wound healing at near-infrared wavelengths of 680, 730 and 880 nm in laboratory animals, and have been approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for human trials. Furthermore, near-infrared LED light has quintupled the growth of fibroblasts and muscle cells in tissue culture. The NASA LED arrays are light enough and mobile enough to have already flown on the Space Shuttle numerous times. LED arrays may prove to be useful for improving wound healing and treating problem wounds, as well as speeding the return of deconditioned personnel to full duty performance. Potential benefits to NASA, military, and civilian populations include treatment of serious burns, crush injuries, non-healing fractures, muscle and bone atrophy, traumatic ischemic wounds, radiation tissue damage, compromised skin grafts, and tissue regeneration.
Wound Healing
The purpose of this study was to assess the effects of hyperbaric oxygen (HBO) and near-infrared light therapy on wound healing. Background Data: Light-emitting diodes (LED), originally developed for NASA plant growth experiments in space show promise for delivering light deep into tissues of the body to promote wound healing and human tissue growth. In this paper, we review and present our new data of LED treatment on cells grown in culture, on ischemic and diabetic wounds in rat models, and on acute and chronic wounds in humans. Materials and Methods: In vitro and in vivo (animal and human) studies utilized a variety of LED wavelength, power intensity, and energy density parameters to begin to identify conditions for each biological tissue that are optimal for biostimulation. Results: LED produced in vitro increases of cell growth of 140-200% in mouse-derived fibroblasts, rat-derived osteoblasts, and rat-derived skeletal muscle cells, and increases in growth of 155-171% of normal human epithelial cells. Wound size decreased up to 36% in conjunction with HBO in ischemic rat models. LED produced improvement of greater than 40% in musculoskeletal training injuries in Navy SEAL team members, and decreased wound healing time in crew members aboard a U.S. Naval submarine. LED produced a 47% reduction in pain of children suffering from oral mucositis. Conclusion: We believe that the use of NASA LED for light therapy alone, and in conjunction with hyperbaric oxygen, will greatly enhance the natural wound healing process, and more quickly return the patient to a preinjury/illness level of activity. This work is supported and managed through the NASA Marshall Space Flight Center-SBIR Program.
Light Emitting Diodes Aid in Wound Healing
Powerful light-emitting diodes (LEDs) have been shown to help heal wounds in laboratory animals and are now being tested on humans at the Medical College of Wisconsin. The LEDs were developed by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) to spur plant life in space.
Harry T. Whelan, MD, Professor of Neurology, Pediatrics, and Hyperbaric Medicine at the Medical College of Wisconsin, found that diabetic skin ulcers and other wounds in mice healed much faster when exposed to the special LEDs in the lab. Laboratory research has shown that the LEDs also grow human muscle and skin cells up to five times faster than normal. The study is conducted at the College's MACC (Midwest Athletes Against Childhood Cancer) Fund Research Center.
"For most wounds, we do not need to interfere with nature's healing," Dr. Whelan said. "But this technology may be the answer for problem wounds that are slow to heal."
The Food and Drug Administration has approved a multi-year investigation of the LEDs as an experimental treatment by a team led by Dr. Whelan. The study, funded by NASA, will specifically examine the technology's effects on diabetic skin ulcers, serious burns and flesh wounds caused by radiation and chemotherapy treatments. The studies on patients are being done at Children's Hospital of Wisconsin and Froedtert Hospital.
LEDs are being studied in comparison to and in conjunction with hyperbaric oxygen therapy, a standard treatment in which the patient is placed in a pressurized oxygen chamber to stimulate new cell growth.
In the first 18-month phase of the project, 100 individuals will be studied at Froedtert and Children's Hospitals. The participants have wounds such as a burn, crush injury, radiation burn, skin graft, diabetic ulcer, or any other wound with poor blood or oxygen supply, that is determined by their physician to be healing slowly or not at all.
In a separate protocol, Dr. Whelan is studying and using the LEDs to promote healing of acute mouth ulcers resulting from chemotherapy and radiation used to treat cancer in children. The treatment is quick and painless.
"Some children who probably would have to be fed intravenously because of the severe sores in their mouths have been able to eat solid food," said David Margolis, MD, Assistant Professor of Pediatrics and an oncologist at Children's Hospital, whose pediatric cancer patients are participating in the study. "Preventing this oral mucositis improves the patient's ability to eat and drink and also reduces the risk of infections in patients with compromised immune systems."
"So far, what we see in patients and what we see in laboratory cell cultures, all point to one conclusion," said Dr. Whelan. "The near-infrared light emitted by these LEDs seems to be perfect for increasing energy inside cells. This means whether you're on Earth in a hospital, working on a submarine under the sea, or on your way to Mars inside a spaceship, the LEDs boost energy to the cells and accelerate healing."
In another continuing study, Dr. Whelan has also used LED therapy to treat more than 20 individuals with brain cancer tumors without the side effects of traditional or laser surgery. This study, done in collaboration with Glenn A. Meyer, MD, Professor of Neurosurgery, uses LEDs to activate light-sensitive, cancer-killing drugs that can kill tumor cells beyond the surgeon's reach without harming healthy cells.
LED technology was developed to enhance the growth of plant tissue in space by NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center and Quantum Devices Inc. of Barneveld, Wisconsin. LEDs have a similar physiological effect on human cells as they do on plant cells. In space, the lack of gravity keeps cells from growing naturally, resulting in slow-growing plant life and loss of bone mass, atrophied muscles, and wounds that do not heal properly in astronauts. LEDs stimulate cytochromes in the body that increase the energy metabolism of cells. Cytochromes are part of the "electron transport chain" that converts sugar into instant energy required by the body to perform all of its actions, such as raising a finger or healing a wound.
Laser light has been shown to have similar effects on growing cells, but lasers are heavy, inefficient, more costly and do not offer the ideal wavelength of light for cell growth. The specially designed near-infrared LED has a longer wavelength than laser light that penetrates deeper -- to a depth of 23 centimeters, or more that nine inches -- without damaging the skin. Though three times brighter that the sun, the LED is very safe and easy to use, as well as portable. For wound healing, the LED is housed in a 3.5" by 4.5" flat array from which it emits a red light that is cool to the touch. An array of LEDs includes three wavelengths to affect various cell types.
An LED array is currently on board a US Navy nuclear submarine for treatment of potential training injuries. Dr. Whelan is a commander in the Navy and a diving medical officer for the Naval Special Warfare Command, which includes the SEAL (Sea, Air and Land) teams. Dr. Whelan has been inducted into the NASA Space Technology Hall of Fame for his research into the use of LEDs for wound healing and the treatment of brain tumors.
For more information on this topic, see the HealthLink article Healing with Light Moves Beyond Fiction.
New Uses Emerge for
Light-Emitting Diode Technology
- by Kevin A. Wilson, Contributing Editor
Pain Management, Skin rejuvenation, wound healing, cosmesis, acne treatments and enhancing botulinum toxin. Muscle and sports injurie. “I think that LED therapy is the medicine of the new millennium” Dr. Calderhead. Read More >>
Muscle, Bone and Wound Healing
- NASA Light Emitting Diode Medical Applications
From Deep Space to Deep Sea
This work is supported and managed through the NASA Marshall Space Flight Center - SBIR
Program. LED-technology developed for NASA plant growth experiments in space shows promise for
delivering light deep into tissues of the body to promote wound healing and human tissue growth. We
present the results of LED-treatment of cells grown in culture and the effects of LEDs on patients’ chronic
and acute wounds. LED-technology is also biologically optimal for photodynamic therapy of cancer and we
discuss our successes using LEDs in conjunction with light-activated chemotherapeutic drugs.
Studies on cells exposed to microgravity and hypergravity indicate that human cells need gravity to stimulate
growth. As the gravitational force increases or decreases, the cell function responds in a linear fashion. This poses
significant health risks for astronauts in long-term space flight. The application of light therapy with the use of
NASA LEDs will significantly improve the medical care that is available to astronauts on long-term space missions.
NASA LEDs stimulate the basic energy processes in the mitochondria (energy compartments) of each cell,
particularly when near-infrared light is used to activate the color sensitive chemicals (chromophores, cytochrome
systems) inside. Optimal LED wavelengths include 680, 730 and 880 nm and our laboratory has improved the
healing of wounds in laboratory animals by using both NASA LED light and hyperbaric oxygen. Furthermore,
DNA synthesis in fibroblasts and muscle cells has been quintupled using NASA LED light alone, in a single
application combining 680, 730 and 880 nm each at 4 Joules per centimeter squared.
Muscle and bone atrophy are well documented in astronauts, and various minor injuries occurring in space have
been reported not to heal until landing on Earth. An LED blanket device may be used for the prevention of bone
and muscle atrophy in astronauts. The depth of near-infrared light penetration into human tissue has been measured
spectroscopically (Chance, et al., 1988). Spectra taken from the wrist flexor muscles in the forearm and muscles in
the calf of the leg demonstrate that most of the light photons at wavelengths between 630-800 nm travel 23 cm
through the surface tissue and muscle between input and exit at the photon detector. The light is absorbed by
mitochondria where it stimulates energy metabolism in muscle and bone, as well as skin and subcutaneous tissue.
Read More >>
- Medical Applications of Space Light-Emitting Diodes
Technology---Space and Beyond
Space light-emitting diode (LED) technology has provided medicine with a new
tool capable of delivering light deep into tissues of the body, at wavelengths
which are biologically optimal for cancer treatment and wound healing. This
LED technology has already flown on space shuttle missions, and shows promise
for wound healing applications of benefit to Space Station astronauts and in
special operations.
Wound Healing
Wounds heal less effectively in space than here on Earth. Improved wound healing may have multiple applications
which benefit civilian medical care, military situations and long-term space flight. Laser light and hyperbaric
oxygen have been widely acclaimed to speed wound healing in ischemic, hypoxic wounds. Lasers provide low
energy stimulation of tissues which results in increased cellular activity during wound healing. Some of these
activities include increased fibroblast proliferation, growth factor synthesis, collagen production and angiogenesis.
Hyperbaric oxygen therapy has also been shown to affect these processes.
Lasers, however, have some inherent characteristics which make their use in a clinical setting problematic,
including limitations in wavelength capabilities and beam width. The combined wavelengths of light optimal for
wound healing cannot be efficiently produced, and the size of wounds which may be treated by lasers is limited.
Light-emitting diodes (LED's) offer an effective alternative to lasers. These diodes can be made to produce
multiple wavelengths, and can be arranged in large, flat arrays allowing
treatment of large wounds.
Our experiments suggest potential for using LED light therapy at 680, 730
and 880 nm simultaneously, plus hyperbaric oxygen therapy, both alone
and in combination, to accelerate the healing process in Space Station
missions, where prolonged exposure to microgravity may otherwise retard
healing.
Studies on cells exposed to microgravity and hypergravity indicate that
human cells need gravity to stimulate cell growth. As the gravitational force
increases or decreases, the cell function responds in a linear fashion. This
poses significant health risks for astronauts in long term space flight.
The application of light therapy with the use of NASA LED's will significantly improve the medical care that is
available to astronauts on long term space missions. NASA LED's stimulate the basic energy processes in the
mitochondria (energy compartments) of each cell, particularly when near-infrared light is used to activate the color
sensitive chemicals (chromophores, cytochrome systems) inside. Optimal LED wavelengths include 680, 730 and
880 nm. Our laboratory has improved the healing of wounds in laboratory animals by using NASA LED light and
hyperbaric oxygen. Furthermore, DNA synthesis in fibroblasts and muscle cells has been quintupled using NASA
LED light alone, combining 680, 730 and 880 nm each at 4 Joules per centimeter squared. Read More >>
The full-length article is available in Space Tech. & App. Int'l. Forum -1999, vol 458:3-15. 1999-00, Medical College Of Wisconsin
LED (Light Emitting Diode) treatment for Rosacea?
I have asked David C, who posts regularly on rosacea forums online, to share his experiences with LED treatment for Rosacea.
Here are two photos of David (click the photo to view high-resolution version).
Photo 1: Before
 This is a picture of me after I was hospitalized for rosacea-related complications (because of my extreme sensitivity to heat, over a period of weeks, I drove my core body temperature down to 84 degrees F using a fan, misting water on myself, and sitting in 60-degree air conditioning--my doctor said it was the lowest core body temperature he'd seen in anyone other than patients pulled out of a frozen lake) in September of 2003. Needless to say, I was of great interest to the resident med students making their rounds in the internal medicine wing. This was about as bad as my disease ever got.
Photo 2: After
 This is how my skin looks now, in April of 2006. This photo was taken without a flash, using sunlight for illumination, so the flash did not wash out any redness in my skin. Not all of my progress is due to red light therapy, but since I have been using red light therapy over the past year my tolerance to triggers (heat, exertion, socializing) has risen an incredible amount--it has been far more effective for flushing prevention than any other treatment modality I've tried.
This is what he says:
My Experience with Red Light Therapy - by David C
I have been using red light therapy, regularly, for a year now. As far as I understand, the light can come from any source—fluorescent tubes, LEDs, or a monochromatic filtered incandescent bulb, so long as the light is around 660nm (the range or specific wavelengths for red light therapy are not clearly understood in the treatment of rosacea; there may be a range of wavelengths, or specific peaks into the infrared spectrum that are beneficial—we just don’t know yet). I chose an LED-based product (an Acnelamp 3-headed all-red unit) to begin with.
I used the Acnelamp gingerly (sporadically) at first, as I was concerned that it might make my condition worse. But, eventually, I began to use the Acnelamp on a regular basis. I went from using it fifteen minutes a day, then fifteen minutes twice a day, then up to twenty minutes twice a day, and then sometimes for a cumulative total of an hour a day.
One of the reasons I began to increase my exposure time was that my face was almost always paler or “calmed” after a session with the Acnelamp. Also, in the hours following a session, my face was less reactive—rather like a dose of clonidine in the action of flushing suppression/prevention. Over time, I noticed that my threshold for flushing began to rise. I was able to take walks in the summer evenings that would have been impossible to tolerate before my use of red light therapy.
After a few months using my Acnelamp regularly, I started doing research on LEDs, because I wanted to construct a custom-made LED array with more LEDs than the Acnelamp had. My first design used LEDs with a viewing angle of 15 degrees that produced light at 660nm. While this design was an improvement over my Acnelamp (it had 252 LEDs (as opposed to the Acnelamp’s 72)), the viewing angle made the light diffusion of this model awkward in that one had to sit around sixteen inches from the light source to get total coverage on the face. However, I did use this model for a few months and found that my condition only continued to get better.
However, I was unsatisfied with this first array, so I built another array, using 660nm LEDs with a viewing angle of 30 degrees, which allowed for a condensing (I could sit closer to the array and get total coverage) of the array’s set-up. This is the array I am currently using, and it has 1176 LEDs, made up of 8 arrays consisting of 147 LEDs that I have arranged into a half-moon curve. I use this set-up anywhere from 20 minutes a day to a few hours (I sometimes purposefully fall asleep in a chair in front of this array with my eye-protection goggles on). I have seen nothing but benefits from this kind of extended exposure time in front of this stronger array.
Why Does it Help Rosacea?
Though there have been no good studies on red light therapy and rosacea, from my readings on this topic, red light seems to have an anti-inflammatory action. If rosacea is, at heart, a flushing disorder that is complicated by the body’s inflammatory response—which in turn cascades and creates a vicious cycle of flushing, which causes an inflammatory response in the facial vasculature, which makes the face more sensitive and prone to more flushing, etc. with eventual extreme sensitivity and a break-out of papules and pustules—daily use of red light therapy appears to act as an anti-inflammatory on the facial vasculature and thus stops the disease from progressing, and, indeed, has reversed the disease process in my case.
Moreover, red light therapy has an added bonus of promoting collagen production, which can build up a thinned dermis, which offers added protection to vessels that were previously more exposed to environmental insults. Much like IPL (though its action is non-thermal and gradual), red light therapy can, over time, treat photo-aged skin and fill in wrinkles, too.
An Addendum: Rosacea Treatment through Red Light Therapy is NOT Singular Cure
I will firmly support red light therapy as the best treatment modality I have come across in my 6 years of treating/fighting/suppressing this disease. However, PLEASE do not rely on red light therapy or a given topical skincare product. Rosacea is a complex disease and must be recognized for what it is: You most likely will need a multi-pronged approach.
I currently use clonidine, clarithromycin 500mg XL, clonazepam, and have had over two dozen thermal laser treatments.
The number of laser/IPL treatments I’ve had should make the intelligent rosacean take pause; while laser/IPL treatments can treat telangiectasias and flushing, it is most likely that one will not find this an end-all a solution. Rather, one must integrate thermal laser therapy, anti-angiogeneic drugs/supplements, and, if I may be so bold as to recommend, red light therapy. This is a complex disease, and so we must all be vigilant and constantly educating one another.
This addendum is in no way meant to undercut my experiences with red light therapy: I am a rosacea sufferer, and I believe that full disclosure is the best way help us, as a community, treat our common disease.
|
