Author Archives: James Carroll

About James Carroll

Founder and CEO at THOR Photomedicine Ltd. About THOR

Oh no, not another LLLT society

Posted on 24 March 2008 by James Carroll

It’s not new, but it is clever. The American Society for Photobiology Kendric Smith makes the case for academics improving their knowledge of photobiological fundamentals.

Laser and LED Therapy is Phototherapy

All too frequently the people in the laser [and light emitting diode (LED)] phototherapy field are untrained in the basics of photobiology. This can lead to bad science and bad clinical trials, and can contribute to conflicting results concerning a given endpoint. Furthermore, it diminishes the stature of the field, and delays the admission of laser (and LED) phototherapy into the mainstream of science and medicine.Kendric C. Smith, Ph.D., Professor Emeritus of Radiation Oncology (Radiation Biology), Stanford University School of Medicine, Founder and First President of American Society for Photobiology.

Posted in Rants | on Oh no, not another LLLT society

No news to report

Posted on 19 March 2008 by James Carroll

There has been nothing monumental going on in the world of LLLT this last 7 days (my blog week starts on a Wednesday in case you are wondering). ASLMS and NZlaser2008 are both in April so I chose New Zealand. I subsequently received five separate requests to be in Florida in the last few days so maybe I will concede and see y’all at both.

Posted in PBM/LLLT | on No news to report

Literature Watch

Posted on 12 March 2008 by James Carroll

Here is my selection for the April 2008 Photomedicine and Laser Surgery

The Impact of low power laser in the treatment of conditioning-induced oral mucositis: a report of 11 clinical cases and their review.

Antunes HS, Ferreira EM, de Matos VD, Pinheiro CT, Ferreira CG

Serviso de Pesquisa Clinica, Instituto Nacional de Cancer, Rua Andre Cavalcante, Rio de Janeiro, Brasil. hspindola@inca.gov.br

We have investigated the clinical effects of low power laser therapy (LPLT) on the treatment of conditioning-induced oral mucositis (OM) in patients submitted to hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT). The evaluation of OM was done using the Oral Mucositis Assessment Scale (OMAS) and World Health Organization (WHO) scale. In the context of a randomized placebo-controlled trial with 38 patients for the evaluation of preventive LPLT, eleven individuals were submitted to allogeneic (AL) HSCT and developed oral mucositis grade 4 (WHO) or a total area of OM of 12 cm (OMAS) and due to that were treated with LPLT with the purpose of symptom relief. The irradiation used was a diode InGaAlP, emitting light at 660 nm, 50 mW and … Continue reading →

Posted in Research | on Literature Watch

“The wonders of medical science”

Posted on 4 March 2008 by James Carroll

Here is yet another study demonstrating the effect of LLLT for patents suffering from Oral Mucositis – how much longer can oncologists ignore this procedure ?

IF YOU ARE AN ONCOLOGIST READ THIS

1: Med Oral Patol Oral Cir Bucal. 2008 Mar 1;13(3):E189-92.

The Impact of low power laser in the treatment of conditioning-induced oral mucositis: A report of 11 clinical cases and their review.Antunes HS, Ferreira EM, Matos VA, Pinheiro CT, Ferreira CG.Dr. Héliton Spíndola Antunes, Servişo de Pesquisa Clínica, Instituto Nacional de Cancer (INCA), Rua André Cavalcante, n 37, 2 andar, Rio de Janeiro, Brasil, CEP-20231-050, E-mail: hspindola@inca.gov.br.

We have investigated the clinical effects of low power laser therapy (LPLT) on the treatment of conditioning-induced oral mucositis (OM) in patients submitted to hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT). The evaluation of OM was done using the Oral Mucositis Assessment Scale (OMAS) and World Health Organization (WHO) … Continue reading →

Posted in Research | on “The wonders of medical science”

LASER ACUPUNCTURE DOSE RANGE AND DOSE RATE EFFECTS

Posted on 29 February 2008 by James Carroll

I am interested to get feedback on this. If we can suspend the debate about what acupuncture is and how effective it is for a minute …. it is my observation that a wide range of laser devices are used in acupuncture. Red* and near infrared*, 1mW to 500mW.

It is well documented that laser can inhibit as well as stimulate cellular function (read more here). Dose ranging studies and dose-rate (fluence rate) studies have been performed and we find that the thresholds for stimulation are quite low (at the target tissue level) and that they are in the range 5 – 30mW/cm2 (though this depends on what method of beam measurement was used by the original authors)(read more here)(and more here).

I would expect that the same wavelength, dose range and dose-rate issues will be true for acupuncture but do not recall seeing anything published. A quick glance at Pubmed finds 407 articles witeh the words Laser Acupuncture (click here to see) but zero return when the terms dose rate, dose range … Continue reading →

Posted in PBM/LLLT | on LASER ACUPUNCTURE DOSE RANGE AND DOSE RATE EFFECTS

PMLS – free edition for download

Posted on 27 February 2008 by James Carroll

 If you are not already a subscriber  how about you download this edition for free
Click here:  Photomedicine and Laser Surgery

Posted in Books and Journals, Research | 1 Comment

ECI meeting in Tomar, Portugal papers published

Posted on 27 February 2008 by James Carroll

If you missed the ECI meeting last year (2007) then you can buy related articles here:
Proceedings of Light-Activated Tissue Regeneration and Therapy

I have attended two ECI meetings now and will declare them my favourite on the conference calender. They are only every 2 – 3 years, they are one week long and in a remote location. Watch this space for the announcement of the next event.

Posted in Research | on ECI meeting in Tomar, Portugal papers published