Effects of UV-, Visible-, Near-Infrared Beams in Three Therapy Resistance Case Studies of Fungal Skin infections

Abstract

Fungal and bacterial diseases, directly infecting various parts of body, have received much attention in recent years. Bacterial infections, such as Tinea Pedis, Pityriasis versicolor and Mycetoma can secondarily occur in superficial fungal damaged skin. They often occur in immune compromised individuals including diabetics and patients with peripheral arterial diseases. Mycetoma infections can travel through the bloodstream affecting different organs. In this paper, we investigate the photo-inactivation of the pathogens causing Tinea Pedis, Pityriasis versicolor, and Mycetoma infections in three therapy resistant patients without photosensitizing drugs. We have used a combination of visible to near-infrared (VIS/NIR) laser beams in association with blue (B), red (R) and ultraviolet (UV) light emitted diodes (LEDs) with incident doses of 0.63-21.43 J/cm 2. These beams have minimum side effects on the normal part of the skin. According to the physicians' assessments, all case study patients achieved an observable progress such as decreases in inflammatory lesions, rapid process of wound healing and scars improvements. Side effects such as inflammation, crusting, or hypopigmentation were not observed. The presented irradiation protocol may be a valuable complementary treatment for patients suffering from fungal and bacterial skin infections.

Simulation and in vivo investigation of light-emitting diode, near infrared Gaussian beam profiles

“…[24][25][26][27] Therefore, investigation of the penetration depth of the light in NIR spectroscopy studies has been as a pursuing research topic mainly focusing on increasing our knowledge about the transmission of light in the brain tissue and how it is affected by the beam pattern of the light. [28][29][30][31] For instruments based on NIR spectroscopy, this has posed a challenge whether the laser or light-emitting diode (LED) is representing the best choice in the light pathway with the intent of increasing the penetration depth. [32][33][34] The most inherent difference between the laser and LED making the laser predominant is its goodness in the area of light collection and focusing efficiency, where laser can transmit a coherent and narrow light beam, which is focused into a more precise spot highly needed in some applications of NIR spectroscopy.…”

“…[43][44][45] In addition, some of these related studies have noticed the theoretical light focus investigated and improved using diverse lenses. 41 Some of the achievements have been employed in some clinical applications, 31,[46][47][48][49] or most articles have examined only a particular lens without comparing the effect of different types of lenses. 50 In this study, the main goal was to introduce a configuration using a secondary optics of lenses applied to an LED-based NIR spectroscopy which can provide a penetration depth and signal quality as well as a laser one.…”

Enhancement of optical penetration depth of LED-based NIRS systems by comparing different beam profiles

“…In fact, because of the optical properties of the SPL, the amount of the light intensity penetrating into the region of interest in the cortical tissue might not be enough to provide a reliable signal to noise ratio for recording hemodynamic in this region [13][14][15][16][17][18][19][20][21][22][23][24]. For this reason, the study of the light penetration depth in NIRS and the way it is affected by the beam pattern has been an important research topic [25][26][27].…”

“…On the other hand, Laser sources and the electronics to derive them are much more expensive compared to the LED sources. Due to the lower cost and the continual advances in the LED technology, high-brightness, monochromatic LEDs are preferred in various applications [25]. Despite benefiting from primary optical systems, an important problem with the beam patterns generated by the LED's is that they are still too broad for most applications, lacking enough intensity over longer distances within the tissue.…”

“…Considering the literature, to our knowledge, there is a gap in the studies regarding the LED NIR light beam patterns within the soft tissue. A number of the reported studies in this subject have focused on the beam patterns of the light in the fluorescence wavelengths region and in other areas of applications including the treatment of skin and mucosal diseases and Optical Coherent Tomography [25,[43][44][45][46][47][48][49][50][51][52].…”