Parkinsons, Deep Brain Health & Light

Exciting to see how deeply Red and Near Infrared light can penetrate into the brain tissue.  The authors find promising to use light to support those with Parkinson’s or other neurodegenerative diseases.   We have personally seen several people with Parkinson’s respond well to using light energy applied over their eyes and sinuses.  Check their experiences out the testimonials section of this site.
Phys Med Biol. 2015 Apr 7;60(7):2921-37. doi: 10.1088/0031-9155/60/7/2921. Epub 2015 Mar 19.

Red and NIR light dosimetry in the human deep brain.

Abstract

Photobiomodulation (PBM) appears promising to treat the hallmarks of Parkinson’s Disease (PD) in cellular or animal models. We measured light propagation in different areas of PD-relevant deep brain tissue during transcranial, transsphenoidal illumination (at 671 and 808 nm) of a cadaver head and modeled optical parameters of human brain tissue using Monte-Carlo simulations. Gray matter, white matter, cerebrospinal fluid, ventricles, thalamus, pons, cerebellum and skull bone were processed into a mesh of the skull (158 × 201 × 211 voxels; voxel side length: 1 mm). Optical parameters were optimized from simulated and measured fluence rate distributions. The estimated ?eff for the different tissues was in all cases larger at 671 than at 808 nm, making latter a better choice for light delivery in the deep brain. Absolute values were comparable to those found in the literature or slightly smaller. The effective attenuation in the ventricles was considerably larger than literature values. Optimization yields a new set of optical parameters better reproducing the experimental data. A combination of PBM via the sphenoid sinus and oral cavity could be beneficial. A 20-fold higher efficiency of light delivery to the deep brain was achieved with ventricular instead of transcranial illumination. Our study demonstrates that it is possible to illuminate deep brain tissues transcranially, transsphenoidally and via different application routes. This opens therapeutic options for sufferers of PD or other cerebral diseases necessitating light therapy.

PMID:
25789711
DOI:
10.1088/0031-9155/60/7/2921
[PubMed – indexed for MEDLINE]
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