How THOR pulses affect dose (they dont)

Posted on 29 April 2013 by James Carroll

THOR laser and LED treatment probes always give the same average power regardless if pulsed or continuous.

THOR pulses are not a fixed pulse width, the pulses are always 88% on 12% off so no matter what pulse frequency is used the the average power remains the same, even when compared with continuous.

This is because we increase the peak power in pulsed mode to compensate for the period when the beam is off.

At say 2.5Hz the THOR pulse width is calculated  0.88 / 2.5  = 0.352 seconds (352ms)

At say 10Hz the THOR pulse width is calculated 0.88 / 10 = 0.088 seconds (88ms)

At say 100Hz the THOR pulse width is calculated 0.88 / 100 = 0.0088 seconds (8.8ms)

How THOR pulses affect dose (they dont)

Posted in Special Feature | on How THOR pulses affect dose (they dont)

THOR Literature watch for March 2013 Low Level Laser Therapy / Cold Laser / Photobiomodulation PBM

Posted on 15 April 2013 by James Carroll

28 new papers for you this month, starting with the most entertaining: “successful management of acute-onset torticollis in a giraffe” which included a laser to reduce “cervical muscle hypertonicity”, an RCT on cellulite (see commentary), an analysis of 589 tooth extractions in patients under bisphosphonate therapy following LLLT, chronic rhinosinusitis, oral lichen planus, combined bone marrow aspirate and LLLT on bone healing, mesenchymal stem cells and LLLT on peripheral nerve regeneration and more …
Continue reading →

Posted in Research | on THOR Literature watch for March 2013 Low Level Laser Therapy / Cold Laser / Photobiomodulation PBM

Unbelievable results

Posted on 14 April 2013 by James Carroll

At first glance this cellulite paper looks like a well designed study, but if you are familiar with LLLT parameters then you may notice something odd about them:
6 treatments (3 x week for 2 weeks) this is probably a good treatment interval
8 x 10 inches (516 cm2) that is a very large area
5 x 17mW Green 532nm this is a poor penetrating wavelength
Combined power of 102mW that is a tiny amount of power for such a large area
Irradiance 0.2mW/cm2 that is less than sunshine on a clear day
15 mins twice (two side of the body) that is a long treatment time
Fluence (dose) 0.18J/cm2 per side that is not enough to do anything

Continue reading →

Posted in Rants | on Unbelievable results

Blue Cross and Blue Shield (Kansas) LLLT coding update

Posted on 17 March 2013 by James Carroll

Blue Cross and Blue Shield Kansas (BCBS) have updated their assessment of LLLT and it is still considered “experimental” despite referencing the “strong evidence” conclusions in systematic reviews published by the British Medical Journal (BMJ) and International Society for the Study of Pain (IASP). Then there is The Lancet Systematic Review on Neck pain and the MASCC “recommendation” statements, also brushed aside by BCBS.

How can this be when: Continue reading →

Posted in Rants | on Blue Cross and Blue Shield (Kansas) LLLT coding update

THOR Literature watch for February 2013 Low Level Laser Therapy / Cold Laser / Photobiomodulation PBM

Posted on 14 March 2013 by James Carroll

20 new papers for you this month starting with a laser tissue penetration study (some wavelengths go deeper than others), Laser vs TENS for OA knee, laser acupuncture for TMJD, human sperm motility and laser vs LED for allergic rhinitis.
Continue reading →

Posted in Research | on THOR Literature watch for February 2013 Low Level Laser Therapy / Cold Laser / Photobiomodulation PBM

Cougar treated with THOR Low Level Laser Therapy (LLLT) by exotic animal veterinarian Jenny Conrad

Posted on 14 March 2013 by James Carroll

The picture below is of a cougar treated by exotic animal veterinarian Jenny Conrad. She reports that “Pirate had a seizure of unknown origin and fell off his perch. He’s not usually this approachable but he seemed to like his LLLT treatment and let us work on him for about an hour. He purred the whole time. He seems to be feeling better this afternoon”.

Click to see more treatment pictures of the cougar and some tigers, a bear and me with a baby wolf :-)

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cougar Jenifer Conrad - 4

cougar Jenifer Conrad - 2

cougar Jenifer Conrad - 1

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Posted in Special Feature, Veterinary | on Cougar treated with THOR Low Level Laser Therapy (LLLT) by exotic animal veterinarian Jenny Conrad

Lack of adherence to the laser dosage recommendations from the world association for laser therapy in achilles study.

Posted on 22 February 2013 by James Carroll

A letter by Bjordal et al was published addressing the tendinopathy study published Tumilty et al. Entitled “Lack of adherence to the laser dosage recommendations from the world association for laser therapy in achilles study”, full text below.

Tumilty et al reported delivering 0.21J per point however the WALT recommended energy per point in Achilles’ tendinopathy is 2.7 to 4.0J, so the authors did not adhere to recommended parameters from WALT.

Tumilty et al disagree but provide and inadequate argument as to why they claim adherence. Yes the the power density good and the treatment time was good but the beam size was too small and consequently the energy was wrong.

This matter was acknowledged in their published paper but was buried in discussion section rather than being acknowledged in the abstract or materials and methods where they claimed adherence to the WALT guidelines.

Future systematic reviewers of LLLT for tendinopathies must be made aware that the claim that their trial adhered to WALT guidelines is false.

This paper will weaken the effect size of future systematic reviews so I am using my blog to help highlight the Bjordal letter for reviewers to find on the future. See below.

Continue reading →

Posted in Rants | on Lack of adherence to the laser dosage recommendations from the world association for laser therapy in achilles study.