Wearable OLED device for photobiomodulation therapy

Abstract

Photobiomodulation therapy (PBMT), including wound healing, is the treatment that promotes biochemical reactions on the site by irradiating light to the skin. The devices using point light sources, such as light-emitting diodes (LEDs) and lasers have been used for treatment so far, but they have various disadvantages such as low flexibility, relatively heavy, and uneven effects. Recently, OLED, a next-generation light source, has the inherent advantages of uniform irradiation, flexible shape, and low heat generation, which is ideal for wearable PBMT light sources. In this paper, a wearable device using red OLED was developed, and the OLED light source observed and confirmed wound healing and inflammatory response through animal experiments and cell proliferation experiments. Our findings suggest that the OLED based this technology, which has been applied in the display, combined with the field of skin therapy may promise advances in PBMT and other medical fields.