TY - GEN
T1 - Optimization of low-level light therapy's illumination parameters for spinal cord injury in a rat model
AU - Shuaib, Ali
AU - KH H Bourisly, Ali
PY - 2018/1/1
Y1 - 2018/1/1
N2 - Spinal cord injury (SCI) can result in complete or partial loss of sensation and motor function due to interruption along the severed axonal tract(s). SCI can result in tetraplegia or paraplegia, which can have prohibitive lifetime medical costs and result in shorter life expectancy. A promising therapeutic technique that is currently in experimental phase and that has the potential to be used to treat SCI is Low-level light therapy (LLLT). Preclinical studies have shown that LLLT has reparative and regenerative capabilities on transected spinal cords, and that LLLT can enhance axonal sprouting in animal models. However, despite the promising effects of LLLT as a therapy for SCI, it remains difficult to compare published results due to the use of a wide range of illumination parameters (i.e. different wavelengths, fluences, beam types, and beam diameter), and due to the lack of a standardized experimental protocol(s). Before any clinical applications of LLLT for SCI treatment, it is crucial to standardize illumination parameters and efficacy of light delivery. Therefore, in this study we aim to evaluate the light fluence distribution on a 3D voxelated SCI rat model with different illumination parameters (wavelengths: 660, 810, and 980 nm; beam types: Gaussian and Flat; and beam diameters: 0.1, 0.2, and 0.3 cm) for LLLT using Monte Carlo simulation. This study provides an efficient approach to guide researchers in optimizing the illumination parameters for LLLT spinal cord injury in an experimental model and will aid in quantitative and qualitative standardization of LLLT-SCI treatment.
AB - Spinal cord injury (SCI) can result in complete or partial loss of sensation and motor function due to interruption along the severed axonal tract(s). SCI can result in tetraplegia or paraplegia, which can have prohibitive lifetime medical costs and result in shorter life expectancy. A promising therapeutic technique that is currently in experimental phase and that has the potential to be used to treat SCI is Low-level light therapy (LLLT). Preclinical studies have shown that LLLT has reparative and regenerative capabilities on transected spinal cords, and that LLLT can enhance axonal sprouting in animal models. However, despite the promising effects of LLLT as a therapy for SCI, it remains difficult to compare published results due to the use of a wide range of illumination parameters (i.e. different wavelengths, fluences, beam types, and beam diameter), and due to the lack of a standardized experimental protocol(s). Before any clinical applications of LLLT for SCI treatment, it is crucial to standardize illumination parameters and efficacy of light delivery. Therefore, in this study we aim to evaluate the light fluence distribution on a 3D voxelated SCI rat model with different illumination parameters (wavelengths: 660, 810, and 980 nm; beam types: Gaussian and Flat; and beam diameters: 0.1, 0.2, and 0.3 cm) for LLLT using Monte Carlo simulation. This study provides an efficient approach to guide researchers in optimizing the illumination parameters for LLLT spinal cord injury in an experimental model and will aid in quantitative and qualitative standardization of LLLT-SCI treatment.
KW - illumination parameters
KW - Low-level laser therapy
KW - Monte Carlo simulation
KW - rat model
KW - spinal cord injury
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85046396907&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1117/12.2289054
DO - 10.1117/12.2289054
M3 - Conference contribution
AN - SCOPUS:85046396907
T3 - Progress in Biomedical Optics and Imaging - Proceedings of SPIE
BT - Mechanisms of Photobiomodulation Therapy XIII
A2 - Carroll, James D.
A2 - Arany, Praveen
A2 - Hamblin, Michael R.
T2 - Mechanisms of Photobiomodulation Therapy XIII 2018
Y2 - 27 January 2018 through 28 January 2018
ER -