Photobiomodulation therapy has important implications for health that many are still under-informed about. In this interview, photodynamic therapy researcher Michael Hamblin, Ph.D., who is an expert in this area, sets out to improve our understanding of this important field.
Hamblin is a researcher and associate professor of dermatology at Harvard Medical School. He’s also a principal investigator at The Wellman Center for Photomedicine at Massachusetts General Hospital, and a member of the Harvard-MIT Division of Health Sciences and Technology.
Infrared therapy is one aspect of photobiomodulation, which covers light of all wavelengths — visible light, and light from spectral regions including ultraviolet, blues through the green, red and into the near-, mid- and far-infrared wavelengths.
One of the most commonly used wavelengths of light is the near-infrared, which starts at about 750 nanometers (nm) and goes all the way into 1,200 nm.
Near-infrared in the lower range penetrates well into the body and has many beneficial biological effects. Wavelengths beyond 1200 nm have very limited ability to penetrate deeply into the body.
Another type of infrared radiation commonly used is far-infrared, which also has biological effects. That’s the type of infrared you get from an infrared heat lamp or far-infrared sauna. More specifically, an infrared heat lamp will give off mostly far-infrared; about 10 percent of the energy is near-infrared.
- One of the most beneficial wavelengths of light is the near-infrared (810 to 830 nm), which penetrates deep into your body and has many biological effects. Far-infrared is absorbed by water, which is why it cannot penetrate as deeply
- Far-infrared exerts biological effects primarily by altering protein structures, mediated by nanostructured water
- Far-infrared exerts biological effects primarily by altering protein structures, mediated by nanostructured water
- Near-infrared primarily targets the cytochrome c oxidase in the mitochondria, causing dissociation of nitric oxide and increasing electron transport and ATP synthesis
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