Method and apparatus for irradiating a surface with pulsed light

Abstract

A method and apparatus irradiates a surface with at least one pulsed light beam emitted from an emission surface of an optical element. The at least one pulsed light beam comprises a plurality of pulses having a temporal pulsewidth in a range between about 0.1 millisecond and about 150 seconds. The at least one pulsed light beam has a beam cross-sectional area at the emission surface greater than about 2 cm2 and a time-averaged irradiance in a range between about 1 mW / cm2 and about 100 W / cm2.

Description

CLAIM OF PRIORITY[0001]This application is a continuation-in-part from U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12 / 389,294, filed Feb. 20, 2009, which is incorporated in its entirety by reference herein. This application also claims the benefit of priority to U.S. Provisional Application No. 61 / 037,668, filed Mar. 18, 2008, which is incorporated in its entirety by reference herein.BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION[0002]1. Field of the Invention[0003]The present invention relates in general to phototherapy, and more particularly, to novel apparatuses and methods for phototherapy of brain tissue.[0004]2. Description of the Related Art[0005]There are numerous neurologic conditions, such as neurodegenerative diseases (e.g., Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease), Huntington's disease, demyelinating diseases (e.g., multiple sclerosis), cranial nerve palsies, traumatic brain injury, stroke, and spinal cord injury which could possibly benefit from application of phototherapy. Most of these conditions...

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

[0013]In certain embodiments, a method of treating a patient who has experienced a traumatic brain injury is provided. The method comprises noninvasively irradiating at least a portion of the patient's scalp or skull with pulsed light penetrating the patient's skull to irradiate and stimulate brain cells of the patient. The pulsed light has a temporal profile comprising an average irradiance per pulse, a temporal pulse width, and a pulse duty cycle. The temporal profile is selected to modulate membrane potentials in order to enhance, restore, or promote cell survival, cell function, or both of the irradiated brain cells following the traumatic brain injury.

Problems solved by technology

Most of these conditions cause significant morbidity and mortality and involve tremendous burden to society, families and caregivers.

Many neurologic conditions have no currently available effective therapies or the therapies that are available are not adequate to restore functional recovery, sustain quality of life, or halt disease progression.

The consequence of stroke is a loss of function in the affected brain region and concomitant loss of bodily function in areas of the body controlled by the affected brain region.

Lifestyle factors such as smoking, diet, level of physical activity and high cholesterol increase the risk of stroke, and thus stroke is a major cause of human suffering in developed nations.

Stroke treatment is often restricted to providing basic life support at the time of the stroke, followed by rehabilitation.

However, tPA can only be used within three hours of stroke onset and has several contraindications, therefore, only a small percentage of stroke victims receive this drug.

For example, a sudden and / or violent blow to the head or an object piercing the skull and entering brain tissue can result in TBI.

TBI can result in a sudden disruption of blood flow to a discrete area of the brain.

The consequence of stroke or TBI can be a loss of function in the affected brain region and concomitant loss of bodily function in areas of the body controlled by the affected brain region.

Images