Wearable Low-Level Light Therapy Offers Hope to Alzheimer’s Sufferers

Last year, a randomized placebo-controlled pilot study using patented Vielight 810 Infrared and patent-pending Vielight Neuro wearable devices was conducted involving 19 patients affected by Alzheimer’s disease or dementia. The findings showed surprisingly promising outcomes. The devices were developed by Vielight Inc. of Toronto, Canada.
 
This could be the first randomized controlled human study that has presented the arrest or reversal in the decline of Alzheimer’s Disease. The patients used the “Neuro” for 20 minutes once or twice a week and the “Vielight 810” every day for 25 minutes. The results of this pilot study are significant and strongly suggest that the treatment for people with moderate-severe cognitive impairment can result in significant clinical improvements. People with this level of cognitive impairment are excluded as candidates for pharmaceutical drugs under development or in clinical trials.
 
The details of this study (co-authors include Dr. Margaret Naeser, a research professor of neurology at theBoston University School of Medicine, Dr. Michael Hamblin, an associate professor at Harvard Medical School) are now being written into a peer-reviewed paper for publication.


 
Technology
The technology involved the science of low level light therapy (LLLT) or photobiomodulation therapy (PBMT). PBMT is a process in which exposure to low-level light or light emitting diodes stimulate cellular function leading to beneficial clinical effects. Prior to this study, research has already presented its potential with dementia and Alzheimer’s disease (AD) in its successful effect on animals with AD. Vielight has translated the research into non-invasive wearable devices, which were used in this study.
 
Large Clinical Trial in Design
The MaRS Excellence in Clinical Innovation Technology Evaluation (EXCITE) program has selected Vielight Inc., as its newest participant. The EXCITE program will support Vielight on its path to achieve adoption by health systems in Canada, The United States and the United Kingdom to treat memory and cognitive decline in patients suffering from dementia and Alzheimer’s disease.
 
“As an EXCITE board member, the chair of the Council of Academic Hospitals of Ontario, the CEO of the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health and a neurologist, I deeply understand the tragedy of neurodegenerative conditions that cause dementia and their impact on individuals and their loved ones. I’m very enthusiastic about the opportunity to evaluate Vielight’s photobiomodulation technology with EXCITE’s support. If this clinical trial validates early findings it will create hope for a major breakthrough in dementia care,” said Dr. Catherine Zahn.
 
“Our goal with the feasibility study (aside from examining the effects) was to look at the practical challenges faced by patients and caregivers coming to a clinic for treatment that would help with a formal clinical trial design. The outcomes exceeded our expectations,” said principal investigator Anita Saltmarche.
 
“The promise shown in this pilot study is owed to decades of work by numerous researchers in the field of photobiomodulation. We are privileged to be able to translate the research into wearable devices that have shown such encouraging results. This has provided a good basis for us to progress to a more rigorous clinical trial; and we aim to start the process in the next few months with the support of MaRS EXCITE.” said Lew Lim, inventor and CEO of Vielight Inc.