“I have used Thor Laser within my Physiotherapy work for nearly 20 years with great success but I was eager to undertake an update with James to ensure I was still maximising it’s use. The training worked exceptionally well delivered online, being interactive whilst not losing the personal touch.
It was a good pace, led in part, by questions from participants, with a logical format and engaging presentation style, not forgetting discussions surrounding the scientific evidence supporting this treatment. My understanding and knowledge on photobiomodulation has definitely grown and will enhance my practice further.”
Hazel Potter
Veterinary & Chartered Physiotherapist
ACPAT Cat A
BSc (Hons) Physiotherapy
MSc Veterinary Physiotherapy
Northumberland, UK
“In comfort of own home, we displayed it on our large screen tv and felt like we were there. James and his screens were large and clear. Love James’ mix of serious info and great humor. Also, loved the chat room where people got to ask and get their questions answered. Brilliant. Well done and thanks so much.”
“The course was fantastic! I’ve been using the THOR for PBM treatments in my clinic for a few years (and love it!). I had been comfortable with using it based on the training I received at my clinic, but going through this course has increased my confidence in describing the mechanisms of the modality to my patients and developing treatment plans for various diagnoses and patient presentations.
The course was incredibly engaging and informative.”
Jennifer Colwell
Occupational Therapist
Ypsilanti MI, USA
The young man featured in this video had a history of cognitive issues, including difficulty with reading and comprehension. After testing positive for auditory processing disorder, he came to HOPE Laser Institute to treat his condition with Photobiomodulation.
Dr. Susan Bostian, H.O.P.E.’s cognitive specialist, explains that humans think in patterns. But when complex brain patterns crisscross, cognitive roadblocks are formed that can impact the brain’s ability to think clearly.
Photobiomodulation targets those cognitive roadblocks so cognitive learning pathways are formed evenly and consistently. Testing confirms that this treatment improves cognitive function, something Dr. Bostian can see demonstrated in a patient’s demeanor after as little as six weeks of treatment.
In the case of this video’s subject, treatment resulted in improvements in reading and comprehension to the extent that he no longer required supplementary help.
Simply put, the human brain is able to function in a more normal, rhythmic pattern as a result of Photobiomodulation.
Andrea Poloni had a lumpectomy in both breasts and her doctors found one gland had a small amount of cancer in it, so they took some lymph glands from there. They warned her that she could possibly get Lymphedema and she did develop it. Andrea received the standard lymphatic treatment at the hospital which involved wrapping, massage and so on, but the swelling remained in her right arm and hand.
Ever since Andrea has had the Photobiomodulation treatment at HOPE Laser Institute, she has not had any swelling whatsoever and is very happy and can do everything that she wants to do. Her specialist doctors are amazed and very happy with her results and have asked her to bring information to them about Photobiomodulation.
SEATTLE, Feb. 18, 2020 /PRNewswire/ — LumiThera Inc., a commercial stage medical device company delivering photobiomodulation (PBM) treatment for ocular disorders and diseases, today announced it has initiated further studies with the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee to establish the use of their Photobiomodulation platform in Diabetic Retinopathy (DR).
“Recent research in our labs in both preclinical and clinical areas have indicated potential in treating diabetic edema with PBM,” stated Janis Eells, Ph.D., Professor, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. “Our work shows that early PBM benefits in reducing the detrimental effects of high glucose on retinal cells and early human data is now starting to show benefits in the clinical setting.”
DR is the leading cause of blindness in the world. The International Diabetes Foundation 2019 Fact Sheet estimated that globally 463 million people have diabetes now, and future estimates suggest that this number will increase to 578 million by the year 2030.
“We have been working with Dr. Eells and the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee on our dry AMD research and the work in DR and Diabetic Macular Edema (DME) is a logical extension of our PBM platform,” stated Clark E. Tedford, Ph.D., President and CEO of LumiThera, Inc. “The results from Dr. Eell’s lab point to the multiple cellular benefits of treating the disease early and PBM would be an alternative approach for treatment of early disease.”
LumiThera was granted a CE mark to commercialize the Valeda System in European Union for the treatment of ocular diseases including dry AMD. The company previously announced that the National Institutes of Health and division of the National Eye Institute have provided a $2.5M grant to support the LIGHTSITE II multi-center clinical trial to lead to U.S. approval for dry AMD. The Company is enrolling two multi-center trials, one in European Union and one in the US for dry AMD. The entry into DME provides a second major ocular disease platform for the Valeda system.
“We are excited to be involved in the development of Valeda for both non-neovascular (dry) AMD and DME. We are currently enrolling patients in the LIGHTSITE III study and believe that PBM could be an even bigger platform for DME,” remarked Quan Dong Nguyen, M.D., M.Sc. and Diana V. Do, M.D., Professors of Ophthalmology at the Byers Eye Institute, Stanford University. “DME is the leading cause of functional vision loss among working adults worldwide. Treatments with intravitreal injections of pharmacologic agents are effective but can be costly and invasive. PBM could provide a significant improvement to the current practices with its non-invasive approach.”
“I am continually impressed with the scientific foundation that LumiThera is building for PBM with collaborations in both preclinical and clinical research,” stated David Boyer, M.D., Retina-Vitreous Associates Medical Group. “The benefits for PBM on multiple critical cellular pathways involved in the disease etiology in preclinical work is now being evaluated in the clinical setting and could change the way we address chronic disease that leads to blindness.”
About LumiThera Inc.
LumiThera is a commercial-stage medical device company focused on treating people affected by ocular disorders and diseases including dry AMD, a leading cause of blindness in adults over 65 and DR, the leading cause of blindness in the world. The company is a leader in the use of PBM for treatment of acute and chronic ocular diseases and disorders. The company is developing the office-based Valeda Light Delivery System to be used by eye care specialists for medical treatment.
The Valeda Light Delivery System has been granted authorization to use the CE Mark by an EU Notified Body as required for commercial use in the European Economic Area only. Valeda is not approved for use by the Food & Drug Administration (FDA) in the USA.
Disclosure: I am an investor in Lumithera a) because it successfully treats an unmet medical need, (dry AMD) b) I think it will be the first billion dollar photobiomodulation company.
U.S. CONGRESSIONAL BRIEFING. Ending Opioid Use – Washington DC
James Carroll presented evidence to Congress on the effectiveness of PBM for treating pain and where it can be used in place of opioids. Prof. Praveen Arany explained how and why it works, and Annette Quinn RN gave her first hand experience in treating over 854 patients with Oral Mucositis.
A hundred million adults in the United States are affected by chronic pain and $600 billion a year is spent on in health care, direct health care costs and lost productivity because of pain.
49,000 people from opioids in 2017, 19,000 of which were from prescribed opioids for pain relief.
We believe that Photobiomodulation therapy can help reduce the prescribing of opioid medication for pain relief and we wish to draw attention to the Congress and health care policymakers, NIH and CMS, about this potentially valuable tool.
This 15 minute video starts with an overview of Photobiomodulation and low level light therapy. Later in the presentation James introduces the Lumithera treatment for Dry Age related Macular Degeneration (AMD).
The paper “High-intensity versus low-level laser therapy in the treatment of patients with knee osteoarthritis: a randomized controlled trial” Kheshie et al 2014 pitches the 3B BTL laser against the HIRO class IV “High intensity” laser. The results appear to show that the HIRO class IV “High intensity laser” was more effective than the “Low Level Laser”. HOWEVER, the HIRO class IV “High intensity” laser was delivered over a large area (not adequately defined but approx 100cm2 by my estimation) so the intensity was actually very low (about 13mW/cm2 which is less than most LED systems), and the 3B BTL “Low Level Laser” was actually very high (4 x 200mW small, high intensity beams) and were held stationary on the patella for over half an hour, YES, HALF AN HOUR IN ONE SPOT! This is insane.
This paper leads people to think that the class IV Hiro laser was more effective because it was higher intensity when in fact the beam distribution meant the average intensity distribution was low (13mW/cm2). The 3B laser was not so effective because it was held stationary such that it would cause an overdose. If the 3B laser treatment had been delivered in using same scanning technique as the class IV then they would likely have achieved the same result. (I am not a fan of scanning because you can never be sure how much energy you have delivered to an area, better to use a low intensity device and hold it still in my view).
This paper misdirects the reader towards favouring class IV lasers rather than 3b or LED by misinforming the reader.
The title of last months PMLS editorial was Low Level Laser Therapy (LLLT) and World Association for Laser Therapy (WALT) Dosage Recommendations. Written by the Scientific Secretary Prof. Jan Bjordal. He describes how far we have come and the importance of the WALT dosage recommendations. No abstract is available for editorials so I have prepared one for you below. Continue reading →
A paper titled ”The Effectiveness of Therapeutic Class IV (10 W) Laser Treatment for Epicondylitis” [ref] showed that 10 Watt Class IV laser (mixed 8W 970nm, 2W 810) was successful in reducing pain and improving function in an RCT with 15 patients, and that there was good statistical significance at 6 months following a course of 6 treatments.
The claim by class IV laser manufacturers is that class IV lasers are better (faster, deeper and more effective) than Class 3b and LED systems. Conversely the 3B laser and LED manufacturers argue that less power density is more effective because delivering energy too quickly can overdose tissues and class IV lasers might burn the skin.
Throughout this paper there are marketing messages claiming the advantages of shorter treatment times than low power LLLT systems and of course the title shouts “10 Watt Class IV laser” just in case the reader is in any doubt that more power is what you need.
Regular readers of this column know my obsession with irradiation parameters, particularly dose rate effects (W/cm2) and will not be surprised to learn that I deconstruced the irradiation parameters used in this trial . Surprise, surprise they were the same low irradiance levels typically used by 3B lasers and LED systems, if not less and the treatment time was longer too.
Yes, it was a 10 Watt laser and yes, 3,000 joules was delivered, however it had a large beam area and treatment was delivered over (45cm2) in a “painting fashion”. The fluence (dose) was 6.6 Joules/cm2 and the power density was a tiny 22mW/cm2, consequently treatment time was a hefty 5 mins.
The average irradiance was not disclosed in the paper and the reader is directed to think that more power is quicker.
P.S. research trials with 3B lasers are typically 30 seconds to 3 mins and our recommended treatment is 1 min with a large LED cluster to the lateral epicondyle and 30 seconds for any related trigger points.
The Treatment Protocol Library is available only to THOR Customers and/or people who have attended a THOR training course in the last 3 years. All treatments are based on our four step method which includes treatment of the injury, trigger points, lymphatics and nerve roots.
Take a look to see how it works and let us know what you think.
“I am totally absorbed in PBM and truly believe it is the way of the future. I just wish that I come across it 33 years ago when you first started out. I love it. The Thor training is extremely interesting and has fired me up even more – truly appreciate it.
I really can’t fault the training and information and obvious back up support you supply to your clients. I think that there was plenty of information covered over the 8 hours.”
Debra Clark
BHSc (Naturopathy) in progress
Western Australia
“James is vastly entertaining while providing excellent information! I also liked the information about creating protocols. The order of information works well; it is like layering so each layer preps you for the next. This is the second time I attended a day of training. (First time was in person in Washington, DC.)
I absolutely love it. The information is presented in a way that I can catch most of what is given. Thank you so much for allowing me to experience it again!”
Angela Thorn
Patient Care Coordinator
Martinsburg WV, USA
“The course was full of information, well organized with good references. It is easily a training that can be given over two days. So much to discuss although it was well condensed, I enjoyed every bit of it. It was an amazing training overall, can’t wait to meet James in person. Thank you.”
UK and Ireland dates
USA and Canada dates
Australia and NZ dates
Rest Of World dates
Featured Testimonials
THOR on Facebook
THOR on Twitter
THOR on LinkedIn
THOR on Instagram
THOR on YouTube
“I have used Thor Laser within my Physiotherapy work for nearly 20 years with great success but I was eager to undertake an update with James to ensure I was still maximising it’s use. The training worked exceptionally well delivered online, being interactive whilst not losing the personal touch.
The paper “High-intensity versus low-level laser therapy in the treatment of patients with knee osteoarthritis: a randomized controlled trial” Kheshie et al 2014 pitches the 3B BTL laser against the HIRO class IV “High intensity” laser. The results appear to show that the HIRO class IV “High intensity laser” was more effective than the “Low Level Laser”. 
