Category Archives: Research

Here is July’s LLLT / cold laser literature watch and it’s a juicy one. 41 papers for you to review including several dental/oral applications, a systematic review on LLLT for OA (note how well the LED study performs), an amazing post hemilaminectomy pain study (a THOR study, I might add) and another TBI review from Mike Hamblin’s lab.

The XR3T-1 device is a rebadged THOR system. I trained Ab Boonswang and the ATA clinic staff in LLLT and the device was used off label for this application.  Our FDA clearance is for temporary relief of muscle and joint pain. We have CE mark for Europe and TGA for Australia. These points were not made clear in the BMJ article.

A couple of minor technical points: There is an error in the technical description of the LED treatment head, the reported spot size of 0.196 cm2 should have been started as “per diode” of which there are 69. The total power was 1390mW (not 1400 as reported) which should be divided by the number of LEDs to get an average : 1390mW/ 69 LEDs / 0.196 each LED = an average power density of approx 100mW/cm2. Some would argue that the way to report power density of a cluster is total power by total area of the array in which case the power density would be approx 50mW/cm2.

Congratulations to Dr Boonswang on getting this … Continue reading →

29 papers published in June for you to review including: a meta-analysis of LLLT on joint pain (one of the best results come from an LED study, but this paper refers to it as a laser!), an RCT on hypothyroidism induced by chronic autoimmune thyroiditis, a review of 9 papers on xerostomia and much more.

Meta-Analysis of Pain Relief Effects by Laser Irradiation on Joint Areas.

Jang, H, Lee H

Department of Information and Communications, Gwangju Institute of Science and Technology , Gwangju, Republic of Korea.

Abstract Background: Laser therapy has been proposed as a physical therapy for musculoskeletal disorders and has attained popularity because no side effects have been reported after treatment. However, its true effectiveness is still controversial because several clinical trials have reported the ineffectiveness of lasers in treating pain. Methods: In this systematic review, we investigate the clinical effectiveness of low-level laser therapy (LLLT) on joint pain. Clinical trials on joint pain satisfying the following conditions are included: the laser is irradiated on the … Continue reading →

31 LLLT papers for you from May 2012 including: LLLT after root planing, post episiotomy, and for TMJD, shoulder tendinopathies, dysmenorrhoea, pressure sores and acne vulgaris and much more.

Did you see the video of two tigers and a grizzly bear getting LLLT. Click here for that

Short-term clinical and osteoimmunological effects of scaling and root planing complemented by simple or repeated laser phototherapy in chronic periodontitis.

Calderin S, Garcia-Nunez JA, Gomez C

Departamento de Estomatologia III, Facultad de Odontologia, UCM, Madrid, Spain.

The aim of this study was to evaluate the clinical, anti-inflammatory, and osteoimmunological benefits of the single (PT) and repeated laser phototherapy (rPT) as an adjunctive treatment of inflamed periodontal tissue. Twenty-seven patients with chronic periodontitis were randomly divided into three groups of nine patients each in order to undergo scaling and root planing (SRP), SRP followed by one session of adjunctive PT (Day 1; SRP + PT), or SRP followed by adjunctive repeated PT five times in 2 weeks (Days 1, 2, 4, 7, and 11; SRP + rPT). … Continue reading →

32 LLLT papers for you this month including: Another RCT for chemoradiotherapy induced oral mucositis showing reduced severity and duration, another RCT showing how IR LEDs increase microcirculation in healthy subjects, and this surprised me; Laser-assisted nasal decolonization of Staphylococcus aureus including MRSA. de Sousa explores which wavelengths change bacterial morphology, Cepera et al show faster bone regeneration with LLLT after rapid maxillary expansion, LLLT gets a mention for onychomycosis which I am yet to be convinced about (though anecdotal reports are enthusiastic), and a tendinopathy trial gone wrong. Click here to see my comment “When the right dose goes wrong”

40 LLLT papers for you this month including an updated biphasic dose response paper from Mike Hamblin’s team at Harvard (including myself), plus clinical trials on lymphoedema (manual lymphatic drainage vs LLLT), oral mucositis literature review with meta-analysis, onychomycosis, improved treadmill training performance, improved orthodontic tooth movement (with less pain), TMJD, post extraction trismus, and a systematic review of treatments for frozen shoulder citing laser as effective for pain relief, improved range of motion, and overall outcome in adhesive capsulitis.

Just 9 papers for you this month including LLLT for orthodontic tooth movement, diabetic periodontitis, ischemic stroke and a laboratory study on chronic mild stress to add to the clinical reports we have seen in recent months.

A plug for the 2012 World Association for Laser Therapy conference in Gold Coast Australia in September. You know you have to go to Australia at some time in your life, well this is that time. Not only does Australia have the most extraordinary wilderness, wildlife and waves of anywhere in the world, it is also the host of this year’s WALT conference. I anticipate that most of the researchers you have read about on this newsletter / blog over recent years will be there . At the WALT 2012 conference in September you can see their latest work and hear their latest thoughts first hand. This land of sun, sea and and so many lasers is probably the most welcoming country i have ever visited, so I suggest you click here to register and click … Continue reading →