L.E.D.

Technology and Skin Diseases

The use of therapeutic beams such as sun beams has been used 4000 thousands years
ago in the ancient Egypt. Many les prove that at this time some scientists and scholars were
using sun energy to cure skin disease. In Europe, the use of beams known a great success in
1903 due to the researcher clinician Dr. Niels. Who has obtained the Nobel Price for his famous
work for the treatment of Lupus Vulgaris with U.V. beams. Since this discovery, many others
light beams has been used to cure some cutaneous pathologies.
Nowadays, one of the greatest improvement in technology was the creation of L.E.D. They are
used for mostly anything from entertainment to the medicine eld. NASA researchers have
found that a badly exposed to natural light epidermis regenerate poorly or very slowly. They
came up with the idea which L.E.D. of the wavelength is capable of stimulating regeneration
mechanisms human cells.
Created in 1988, the French company BIOPHOTON specialized in the conception and
fabrication of medical laser had created the TriWings, a L.E.D. device that can cure through
treatment skin diseases.



A L.E.D. (acronym for Light Emitting Diode) is a semiconductor device that converts
electrical energy into light. The rst visible-spectrum (red) L.E.D. was developed in 1962 by Nick
Holonyak, Jr., while working at General Electric Company. It emits monochromatic light during
the passage of an electric current. When the L.E.D. is fed, the electrons move through the
semiconductor material and some of them move in a state of lower energy. In this process, the
energy saved is released as light. L.E.D.s are considered by many as a future technology in
the eld of general lightning. Indeed, it is estimated that by 2020, L.E.D.s could represent 75%
of the market lightning. They are also used in the construction of at television screens: for
backlighting LCDs as the main source of illumination in L.E.D. TVs.
The light output, according to the types of diodes, is variable, generally between 20 and 100 lm/
W, and reaches the laboratory lm/W5 200. A wide disparity in performance is present in the
color, power or brand. The luminous efciency of white L.E.D.s last generation is higher than
incandescent lamps, but also to that of compact uorescent lamps or certain models of
discharge lamps. The spectrum of the emitted light is almost entirely contained in the visible
range. Unlike incandescent lamps and discharge lamps, L.E.D.s emit almost no infrared. The
light output depends on the design of the L.E.D.
L.E.D.s are easy to mount on a printed circuit board. Also, have a lower energy consumption
than incandescent lamps and the same order of magnitude as the uorescent consumption.
Have a great excellent mechanical resistances such as shock, crushing and vibration. Much
smaller than conventional lamps which offers the possibility of making very specic light
sources, from low to very low power consumption (a few tens of mill watts) and good yield size.
One of the best advantage of L.E.D. is its life time, 20 000 to 50 000 hours. It is much longer
than a conventional incandescent lamp which is 1000 hours or a halogen lamp 2000 hours. We
can say that the invention of the L.E.D. is a revolution of the 21st century, it is already replacing
the conventional lamp du to its efciency. Although, this technology is still improving everyday
so we can expect a great future for this technology, specially in the medical eld.

Now let us have a look about how can we benet from the L.E.D. technology in the medical
eld. Practitioners started to treat cancerous skin lesions by exposing them to a combination of
white light and a photosensitive topical remedy. The results were extremely convincing and the
treatment left no scars. This kind of treatment has come into general use.
The company BIOPHOTON had created a device using the L.E.D. technology in order to cure
skin diseases through treatment with the TriWings. TriWings is a lighting system used for
healing and biostimulation, as well as treating pain and inammation.
The device provides high power lighting. The practitioner can set each of the three panels,
mounted at the end of an articulated arm, and orient independently to specic parts of the body,
skull, knee, arm, etc. The patient does not have to move. This particularity, which is absolutely
unique on the market, reduces illumination time.
The practitioner can also use a visible bre optic laser for highly localized or distal treatments by
acupuncture, with an automatic laser activation function at the detected point.
Triwings combines different LEDs to obtain fast treatment on the surface and in deep tissues.

The main treatments:

Stretch marks

Triwings is the only systems in the world that can reduce stretch marks. Treatment consists of
irritating the stretch mark after prior work on the abdomen, when they are localized at this
precise point. Cold light is emitted at specic wavelengths and restores pigment to the
epidermis. On reaching the skin, the light releases the pigment reserves which are scattered
over the body. You need several sessions, with a weekly maximum of two sessions to achieve
a visible result.
A woman's abdomen is restored to its previous appearance, quite naturally: reduced depth and
improvement of the folded aspect. Dr Boisnic's team within the Dermatology and Cosmetology
Research Group, has demonstrated a 50% improvement in the skin of stretch marks after 15
sessions, each lasting 20 minutes. This is a rst achievement which has been the subject of
scientic publications.


Anti-aging treatments

Cold light triggers subtle modications. Even if they are not immediately visible, they are felt
immediately by the patient from the rst session. L.E.D. treatment is used to work on the skin's
texture and tone.

Post-surgical treatments

Cold light has some remarkable effects on the cellular repair process. Practitioners obtain
extraordinary results in scar reduction. The treatments not only have an aesthetic effect by
recoloring the skin, they also distinctly improve patient comfort. Burns are reduced. It is
therefore much easier to walk or lift an arm after an operation. The patient must undergo several
sessions. LEDs are also used to eliminate scars caused by jellysh stings. In this case, two
sessions are enough.

Other treatments

Several studies have also proved the positive effects of cold light in anti-acne treatment or the
reduction of varicose ulcers. Some physicians use their Triwings machines to attenuate orange
peel skin or sunburn.


To conclude, the L.E.D. technology has really been a revolution of the 21s century. It has
revolutionized the entertainment eld through TVs and lightning and people can take advantage
of its benets in the medical eld. Its high efciency has seduced many professionals and its
evolution is still in perpetual progress.

Sources:

http://www.triwings.pro/en/
http://www.howstuffworks.com/led.htm
http://www.energystar.gov/index.cfm?c=lighting.pr_what_are
http://www.ledinside.com/knowledge/