Light-emitting diodes (LEDs) are being used in medical applications as healing agents.
Light therapy using light-emitting diodes (LEDs) is used in medical applications as a healing agent. The technology was first developed by Quantum Devices, Inc., for the Space Development Program at NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama, to help promote plant growth on long-term space missions. LED devices also are available for home use, for temporary relief of minor muscle and joint pain, stiffness and arthritis, and to increase blood circulation and promote muscle tissue.
Function
In the 1990s, QDI researchers working with NASA found that plants exposed to the near-infrared light produced by LEDs increase the energy compartments, or mitochondria, of each plant cell, resulting in faster growing plants. Further experiments at the Medical College of Wisconsin (MCW) found that cells exposed to LEDs near infrared light grow 150 percent to 200 percent faster than cells not exposed to the light. Biologists noted that infrared light increases energy inside the cells, resulting in a faster healing process.
Significance
QDI, a Barneveld, Wisconsin, photobio technology corporation, took infrared light's ability to speed up cell growth and applied it to medical applications. The research showed that the redder the light generated by LEDs, the longer the wavelength. The longer the wavelength, the more deeply the light can penetrate body tissue for healing.
Cancer Applications
QDI's High Emissivity Aluminiferous Lighting Substrate (HEALS) technology, which uses high-intensity LEDs, is used as a light source for Photodynamic Therapy (PDT), which activates light-sensitive chemotherapy drugs to kill cancer. A collaboration with Dr. Harry T. Whelan of MCW also led QDI to develop HEALS technology to treat wounds and sores caused by cancer treatment. The technology helps prevent oral mucositis--sores around the mouth--in pediatric bone-marrow transplant patients, which is a common problem.
Military Applications
Dr. Whelan's research also proved LED's effectiveness in healing wounds. Doctors on the USS Salt Lake City submarine reported crew members' lacerations healed 50 percent faster when exposed to the LED light from its wound-healing device. Similarly, doctors at Navy Special Warfare Command centers in Norfolk, Virginia, and San Diego, California reported a 40 percent improvement in patients treated with the LEDs for musculoskeletal training injuries. In 2010, troops in the Middle East were testing QDI's Warp 10, a portable, handheld device, to self-heal wounds in the field.
Potential
Experiments continue on the use of LEDs to direct plant growth. Ongoing research at the University of the Florida's Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences is looking into how LEDs can help grow stronger plants that produce more fruit. Scientists at the U,S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) have found that ultraviolet LEDs not only increase the amount of flavonoid antioxidants in lettuce leaves, but also could ultimately help northern climates grow crops in winter. USDA researchers found that UV LED can preserve nutrients in harvested fruits and vegetables.
Tags: found that, infrared light, medical applications, applications healing, cells exposed, diodes LEDs, exposed light