PHOTOMEDICINE (LASER) THERAPY RESEARCH

What is Matter

Matter is the “stuff” of the universe — the atoms, molecules and ions that make up all physical substances. Matter is anything that has mass and takes up space. Energy is matter, and matter is energy. Energy is the capacity to cause change in matter. Energy cannot be created or destroyed; it can only be conserved and converted from one form to another.

The Newtonian Approach

Present day medical views are deeply rooted in a Newtonian approach called allopathic medicine (traditional, or conventional Western medicine.). According to Dr. Richard Gerber (author of Vibrational Medicine), “physicians often conceptualize the body as a type of machine which is controlled by the central computer (the brain and central nervous system); the ultimate biological computer.” Newtonian ways of thinking were   initially conceptualized in the industrial revolution - more than one hundred years ago. Present-day physicians see the body as a complex machine, in which the heart is a mechanical pump that delivers nutrients and oxygen to the various parts of the system; the body being a series of tubes and wires. Today, physicians can replace, create, and even synthesize organs and systems of the body. Doctors have become the mechanics and even architects of the various systems of our bodies.

Vibrational medicine uses quantum packets of energy to positively affect those energetic systems in the body that are either lacking energy or filled with chaotic energy that is out of balance due to diseased states or injury. Vibrational medicine repairs the body by inducing energy absorption via vibrational bits of excited energy provided by photon generators (commonly known as therapy lasers). 

The Einsteinian Paradigm

The Einsteinian paradigm is the opposite of the Newtonian model. Dr. Gerber states, “energy medicine sees human beings as networks of complex energy fields and vibrating bits of energy that interface with the physical/cellular systems.

Energy medicine in laser therapy uses quantum packets of energy to stimulate systems in the body that are either lacking energy or filled with chaotic energy that is uncoordinated due to diseased states or injury. Energy medicine repairs the body by inducing absorption of vibrational bits of stimulated energy provided by photon generators (another name for therapy lasers). Stimulated energy is delivered via therapeutic wavelengths in the so-called optical window (infrared - between 605nm and 1200nm). 

 Biomedical Photonics = Photomedicine Therapy 

Biomedical Photonics is a new branch of physics that examines the behavior and properties of light and the interaction of light with organic matter. This emerging medical paradigm holds great promise for the future of medicine, and is poised to experience explosive growth due to the noninvasive or minimally invasive nature and cost-effectiveness of photonic modalities in medical diagnostics and therapy.  Biomedical applications include 

Therapeutic Medical Imaging (Tissue Clearing)  Shaped by Quantum Theory, Technology, and the Genomics Revolution  The integration of photonics, electronics, biomaterials, and nanotechnology holds great promise for the future of medicine. This topic has recently experienced an explosive growth due to the noninvasive or minimally invasive nature and the cost-effectiveness of photonic modalities in medical diagnostics and therapy. 

Light (or photonic energy) is the basic force carrier of the universe, consisting of basic (quantum) bits of energized matter that, in turn, makes up everything in our universe.

Photomedicine (Laser) Therapy consists of stimulated light energy emissions from therapy lasers (photon generators) that transfers energy to targeted tissues, thereby increasing cellular energy and accelerating repair of sick and injured tissues and body systems.

Numerous examples exist of light induced photochemical reactions in biological systems; For example, vision is based upon light interacting with photosensitive cells in the retina called photoreceptors. When light is absorbed by these cells, a photochemical reaction occurs converting light energy into electrical signals that are transmitted to the visual processing centers of the brain. Another example is vitamin D synthesis; this is a photochemical reaction that occurs when the ultraviolet B (UVB) wavelength in sunlight is absorbed through the skin, converting a ubiquitous form of cholesterol 7-dehydrocholesterol to vitamin D3. Two well-known examples of this concept include seasonal affective disorder (SAD) and lack of vitamin D production leading to rickets.

For centuries, jaundiced infants have been placed near a window so sunlight can be employed to break down bilirubin in an infant’s bloodstream. 

Mothers and doctors alike have known for centuries that bilirubin, as a chromophore, rapidly absorbs quantum UV energy from the sun due to its unique coloring. UV energy, unlike NIR energy, is destructive and rapidly breaks down the bilirubin so that it can be more easily absorbed and processed by the infant’s liver.     

Each tissue type has a different optical behavior; the laser energy beam is reflected, scattered, absorbed or attenuated depending primarily on the wavelength and tissue according to tissue variability factors. With increasing depth, the laser energy and power attenuates, which can be compensated by higher power output or photomedicine therapy treatment duration, in lasers that are capable of delivering the requisite therapeutic values.

Our lasers offer the ideal wavelengths for optimal treatment outcomes, including 650nm, 810nm, 915nm, 980nm, and 1064nm. 

Photonic energy absorption primarily occurs through three mediums in living tissue: water, melanin, and hemoglobin. Laser energy has unique spectral absorption properties and is pigment-oriented; in other words, wave energy is attracted to like-pigmented tissues, with therapeutic wavelengths existing in what we call the optical window, which are wavelengths between 605nM to 1200nM. 

The primary therapeutic wavelengths consist of: 810nM - primarily absorbed by hemoglobin, and considered the “Jack of all Trades” wavelength, 915nM - primarily absorbed by water, 980nM - primarily absorbed by plasma, and the 1064nM wavelength, which is primarily absorbed by tensile, or collagenous tissues, including tendons, cartilage, and bones. The 650nm wavelength is ideally absorbed by the skin, melanin in the skin, epithelial cells in the melanin, red adipose tissues directly beneath the skin, plasma, and mitochondria in red adipose tissues. 

THE 1064nm WAVELENGTH Photomedicine at 1064nm penetrates more deeply into denser tissues than either the 810nm or 980nm wavelengths, meaning metabolic processes deeper in the body are stimulated more readily by this wavelength. Since skin cells contain most of the body's melanin, and the 1064nm wavelength is especially absorbed by melanin, tissue stimulation occurs more readily with this wavelength; mitochondria is more highly populated in epithelial cells than almost any other cell type; the 1064nm wavelength is an especially effective way to stimulate mitochondria.  

The ideal therapeutic wavelength for absorption by hemoglobin is 810nm 

Hemoglobin-Corresponding Wavelengths 808nM to 820nM Red blood cells (Erythrocytes), white blood cells (Leukocytes), and platelets (thrombocytes), make up 45% of blood tissue by volume, with the remaining 55% of the volume composed of plasma, the liquid component of blood. 

Water – Corresponding Wavelength 915nM  

The liquid component (water) of the human body is contained in the tissues, the blood, the bones, and elsewhere. This water makes up a significant portion of the human body, both by weight and by volume, and ranges from maximum 78.1% to minimum 54.8%. It is made up of primarily plasma; fatty tissues contain less water content than lean tissues. Ensuring the right amount of body water is part of fluid balance, an aspect of homeostasis. The ideal therapeutic wavelength for absorption by water is 915nm (nanometers). 

Melanin, Epithelial Cells – Corresponding Wavelength 605nM – 670nM  

Melanin is produced within the skin in cells called melanocytes which regulates the amount of ultraviolet and infrared radiation able to penetrate the skin; most of the melanin in the body is contained in epithelial cells which are found throughout the body. Epithelial cells are often described as lying ‘outside’ the body as they coat the outer layer (epidermis) of the skin; epithelial cells also line the major cavities of the body and form the structures of the lung, including the alveoli or air sacs where gas exchange occurs. Epithelial cells also line most organs, including the stomach small intestine, kidneys, and pancreas. Epithelial cells have many mitochondria because these cells have high levels of energy output and require the ATP (adenosine triphosphate) produced by mitochondria. Photomedicine is particularly useful in stimulating tissues that contain mitochondria as the ATP synthase process is greatly stimulated during and after treatment. 

THE 980nm WAVELENGTH 

Oxygen that is released by the function of the 915nm wavelength needs a transport system; that transport system is H2O. Along with oxygen transport, water helps in the elimination of waste which makes it a dual mode carrier. In the photomedicine process, photon absorption is converted to heat energy. This heat energy creates a controlled thermal environment at the cellular level, triggering microcirculation and the transport of oxygen do the cells that are demanding it. In addition, the 980nm wavelength stimulates the distribution of calcium by transferring it from the mitochondria to the fluid within the cell. 

Stimulating cells with the 980nm wavelength helps lead to pain reduction, the stimulation of circulation, and enhanced muscle relaxation. In addition, stimulating the brain and the enteric system in the body (epithelial tissues containing mitochondria and suffused with blood) helps to stimulate the production of serotonin, a primary mitigatory factor in the pain reduction process. 

Water as a Chromophore 

The liquid component (water) of the human body is contained in the tissues, the blood, the bones, and elsewhere; this water makes up a significant portion of the human body, both by weight and by volume, and ranges from maximum 78.1% to minimum 54.8%. It is made up of primarily plasma; fatty tissues contain less water content than lean tissues. Ensuring the right amount of body fluids is an important aspect of homeostasis; proper hydration is also very important for successful photomedicine treatments. The 915nm wavelength is primarily absorbed by tissue fluids, as well as nerve tissues, ligamentous and bony (structural tissues), white adipose tissues fatty tissues, other connective and lymphatic tissues that are lightly pigmented. 

Hemoglobin as a Chromophore 

Red blood cells (Erythrocytes), white blood cells (Leukocytes), and platelets (thrombocytes), make up 45% of blood tissue by volume, with the remaining 55% of the volume composed of plasma, the liquid component of blood. The 808nm wavelength is primarily absorbed by hemoglobin, vascular tissues, endothelial tissues muscle tissues. There are three types of muscle tissue: striated muscles, such as those that move the skeleton (also called voluntary muscle), smooth muscles (involuntary muscle), such as the muscles contained in the stomach and other internal organs, and cardiac muscle, which makes up most of the heart wall (also an involuntary muscle).

Melanin as a Chromophore Epithelial tissue covers the body surface and forms the lining for most internal cavities – melanin is found primarily in epithelial tissues, and in the skin presents a barrier to NIR energy absorption and penetration, and is readily absorbed by 650nm as well as lower wavelengths in the UV range (10nm to 400nm). More than 60% of directed quantum energy from a therapy laser is attenuated by melanin in the skin.  

DNA as A Chromophore 

DNA contains molecules that absorb and transfer quantum energy via the F.R.E.T. (Fluorescent Resonance Energy Transfer) process. Substances in DNA (receptor chromophores) are excited by quantum energy to a higher vibrational, or energy state - they then resonate, or transfer the higher energy state to acceptor chromophores (targeted substances in DNA). This process is enhanced by high volumes of excited quantum particles to direct higher energy states where it is most needed; in addition, laser energy represents a control of photochemical reactions that mimics and greatly enhances the mitochondrial functional response to natural light, much like photosynthesis in plants, algae, and many types of bacteria except at a more highly accelerated rate.