Rehabilitation Practice and Science
Abstract
Intravenous laser irradiation of blood (ILIB) involves a type of intravascular treatment which applies a helium-neon laser possessing a wavelength of 632.8nm. Since its first use in 1981 by Russian scientists, it is now widely applied in the treatment of various diseases, including chronic musculoskeletal pain, wound healing, spinal cord injury, stroke, traumatic brain injury, coronary artery disease, type 2 diabetes mellitus, rheumatoid arthritis and acute kidney injury. The underlying mechanism for ILIB may be associated with its anti-oxidative (through regulating the reactive oxygen species systems) and anti-inflammatory effects (by reducing the production of inflammatory cytokines). Moreover, positive effects on the three major blood cell types were also proven, including improving the oxygen-carrying capacity and rheological properties of red blood cells, enhancing mitochondrial activity within white blood cells and modulating immune responses, and inhibiting platelet aggregation to reduce blood viscosity. Although there is currently a lack of robust and compelling evidence to support the use of ILIB in the treatment of various diseases, this minimally invasive complementary treatment method provides another option in the treatment of many intractable diseases.
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This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 International License.
Recommended Citation
Chuang, Ya-Chi and Cheng, Yuan-Yang
(2024)
"Application of Intravenous Laser Irradiation of Blood (ILIB) in Physical Medicine: A Narrative Review,"
Rehabilitation Practice and Science: Vol. 2024:
Iss.
1, Article 2.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.6315/3005-3846.2230
Available at:
https://rps.researchcommons.org/journal/vol2024/iss1/2
