• Journal of Physiology & Pathology in Korean Medicine
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• v.25 no.5
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• pp.870-875
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• 2011

Arthritis of the knee is the most common type of joint inflammatory disorder and it is associated with pain and inflammation of the joint capsule. The aim of present study was to investigate the endogenous effect of low intensity laser acupuncture on collagen-induced arthritis in rats. Forty Sprague-Dawley rats were randomly divided into normal group, arthritis group, low laser group with 10 rats in each group. Arthritis in rats was induced by subcutaneous injection of type II collagen combined with complete Freund's adjuvant. Here we investigated the effects of low intensity laser therapy in experimentally induced rat knee arthritis. To evaluate preventive and therapeutic effects of low intensity laser acupuncture on collagen-induced arthritis rats. In collagen induced arthritic rats, there was significant increase in rat paw volume and decrease in body weight increment, whereas low intensity laser therapy groups, showed significant reduction in paw volume and normal gain in body weight. The altered biochemical parameters(blood urea, serum creatinine, total proteins and acute phase proteins) in the arthritic rats were significantly brought back to near normal by the low intensity laser therapy. Therefore, low intensity laser acupuncture may be a useful treatment in the prevention and treatment of collagen-induced arthritis.

• Journal of Biomedical Engineering Research
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• v.30 no.1
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• pp.18-22
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• 2009

Laser has been widely used in various fields of medicine. Recently, noninvasive low-level laser therapeutic medical devices have been introduced in market. However, low-level laser cannot deliver enough photon density to expect positive therapeutic results in deep tissue layer due to the light scattering property in tissue. In order to overcome the limitation, this study was aimed to develop a negative pressure applied low-level laser probe to optimize laser transmission pattern and therefore, to improve photon density in soft tissue. In order to evaluate the possibility of clinical application of the developed laser probe, ex-vivo experiments were performed with porcine skin samples and laser transmissions were quantitatively measured as a function of tissue compression. The laser probe has an air suction hole to apply negative pressure to skin, a transparent plastic body to observe variations of tissue, and a small metallic optical fiber guide to support the optical fiber when negative pressure was applied. By applying negative pressure to the laser probe, the porcine skin under the metallic optical fiber guide is compressed down and, at the same time, low-level laser is emitted into the skin. Finally, the diffusion images of laser in the sample were acquired by a CCD camera and analyzed. Compared to the peak intensity without the compression, the peak intensity of laser increased about $2{\sim}2.5$ times and FWHM decreased about $1.67{\sim}2.85$ times. In addition, the laser peak intensity was positively and linearly increased as a function of compression. In conclusion, we verified that the developed low-level laser probe can control the photon density in tissue by applying compression, and therefore, its potential for clinical applications.

• Laser Solutions
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• v.15 no.2
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• pp.11-14
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• 2012

In this paper, we have made a proposal concerning the beam shaping mask(BSM) using random-array slits to control intensity distribution profile of laser beam and demonstrated its proprieties experimentally. When a lot of slits are set out irregularly, diffraction patterns of light does not appear but granularity patterns as a bundle of fibers appear. Intensity distribution profile is controlled by densities distribution of circular slits arrayed randomly because the number of slits and its area means amount of light energy through BSM. Namely as the number of slits in high intensity area is increased and that in low intensity area decreased, amount of light energy is same over all local parts. So gaussian intensity distribution could be changed to flat-top.

• Biomedical Science Letters
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• v.6 no.2
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• pp.119-129
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• 2000

The skin is an organ that has many important roles, including protection against infection, regulation of temperature and fluid loss, and sensory function. Injury to the skin, wound repair normally involves: (1) balanced activity of inflammation, (2) the re-epithelial phase and (3) the matrix formation of remodeling phase. Thus, skin wound healing is a finely controlled biological process involving a series of complex cellular interactions. Laser therapy is being implemented with increasing frequency in medicine. Low intensity laser is one that is capable of producing an energy density so low that any biologic alterations are the result of direct irradiation effect, not thermal events. This study was designed to evaluate the efficacy of low intensity laser therapy on skin wound healing in rabbits. A total of 10 male rabbits (New Zealand White Rabbit), age 8 weeks were used. Skin wound were surgically created dorso-lateral on the flank of 10 rabbits (2$\times$2 cm/damage areas). The experimental animals were treated with 5Hz (830 nm wave length) low-intensity laser (MILTA-01 Model) daily for 10 min (1.6 J/$cm^2$) for 12 days. Control animals were sham treated with the laser head. Laser irradiation animals showed a complete remodeling of the epithelial layer, a positive repair of connective tissues, and enhanced the wound closure rate over time as compared to the control animals. Especially, laser irradiation groups improved fibroblast activity, cellular content, granulation tissue formation, and collagen deposition which is resulted in improving the tensile strength of the wound. These findings suggest that laser photostimulation could accelerate healing of open wound in rabbits, and may be benefit in the treatment of open wound, including decubitis ulcers.

• The Journal of Korean Physical Therapy
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• v.12 no.3
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• pp.469-474
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• 2000

This studies were to investigate the effects of low power intensity Helium-Neon Infra-Red(He-Ne IR) laser on the changes of the serum immunoglobulin(1g) components in burn rats, The fourty eight Spraque-Dawley adult male rats were assigned to the 8 groups: the experimental groups(4), the burn control groups(2) and the control groups(2) There was made three degree burn by the 250mW IR on the back of each rats, from 3 days after being burned, the experimental laser groups were irradiated low power He-Ne IR laser for 3 minutes and 4.5 minutes every day during the 7days and 21 days. The results were as follows: The concentrations of immunoglobulin G(Ig G) in serum of burn rats on the treated with during the 3minutes laser for 7 days were higher than those of burn and 4.5 minutes laser groups. There were significantly decreased the change of the level of immunoglobulin M(Ig M) in serum of burn rats on the treated with 3 minutes laser for 7 days to the control group, but were significantly increased on the 3minutes and 4.5 minutes laser groups for 21 days to the those of burn and control groups, and the levels of the Ig M on the 3minutes laser group for 21 days were higher than those of 7 days. The concentrations of immunoglobulin E(Ig E) in serun of the burn rats on the experimental and burn groups were significantly lower than those in control group. As above results, The changes of the level of immonoglobulin components in serum have meaningful role in the healing process on the treated with the low pewer intensity of HE-Ne IR laser.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society of Precision Engineering Conference
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• 1993.10a
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• pp.357-362
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• 1993

In this study low priced laser measurement system was made, so its reliability was investigated Intensity distribution of laser beam measured by devised system and FFT analyzer and their results were examined for proving reliability of devised system. Transmitted laser beam intensity on photodiode changed by eccentrically rotating of disk cam and motor speed. To get results, photodiode and devised amplifier were used for changing voltage. After that, response signal was calculated by signal analysis program. It was found that the vibration of disk cam could be measured by the intensity distribution of laser beam and the same tendency was obtained by FFT. Change of motor speed effected the distribution of laser beam,which was obtained by devised system. Also linear distribution was got by sensitive balancing switch on amplifier according to the transmission of laser beam on photodide.

• Journal of Korean Physical Therapy Science
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• v.7 no.2
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• pp.533-543
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• 2000

This study was designed to evaluate the analgesic effect of low power GaAsAl laser on the pain threshold of mechanical stimulation using different treatment points, acupuncture point (zusanli) and non-acupuncture points(back). Furthermore, we investigated the analgesic effect of low power GaAsAl laser using the different duration and intensity of laser in mechanical stimulation induced pain behavior. The results were summarized as follows: 1. The threshold of mechanical stimulation was significantly increased by GaAsAl laser stimulation into zusanli point after 15 and 30 min after laser stimulation(P<05). However, the laser stimulation into non-acupoint did not affect the pain threshold of mechanical stimulation. with dose dependent manner. 2. In order to investigate the analgesic effects of BV depending upon different intensities of laser stimulation, the experimental animals were divided into three groups: 3 mW treated group, 6 mW treated group and 10 mW treated group. The low power GaAsAl laser stimulation was applied into zusanli acupoint for 30 min with different intensity of laser stimulation. Six and ten mW of laser stimulation significantly increased the pain threshold of mechanical stimulation at 15 min after laser stimulation as compared to that of control group(P<.05). Moreover, the analgesic effect of 10 mW laser stimulation was maintained for 30 min after laser stimulation (P<.05). 3. Finally, we tested the analgesic effect of 10 mW laser stimulation using different duration such as 10 min, 30 min or 1 hr after application of mechanical stimulation. In 30 min treatment group, the pain threshold of mechanical stimulation was increased at 15min and 30min after laser stimulation(P<.05). However, laser stimulation for 60 min dramatically increased the pain threshold of mechanical stimulation at 0 min after laser stimulation and the analgesic effect of laser stimulation was observed until 1 hr after laser stimulation. In conclusion, these data apparently demonstrate that low power GaAsAl laser has analgesic effect on mechanical induced pain model in rats. In addition, the treated point, intensity and duration of laser stimulation should be concerned before clinical application for pain management purpose.

• Journal of Korean Physical Therapy Science
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• v.10 no.1
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• pp.198-205
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• 2003

We evaluated the effect of low power GaAsAl laser on re-epithelization in full-thickness excisional wound of rat skin. Two full-thickness excisions were made on the back of the experimental animals. Low power laser applications with 10mW intensity were treated experimental animals twice a day for 7 days. On the seventh postoperative day the quantitative analysis of re-epithelization was performed using immunohistochemical staining for proliferating cell nuclear antigen (PCNA). The majority of PCNA immunoreactive cells was observed at epithelial cells in the margin of full thickness excisional wound. The low power laser treatments significantly increased the number of PCNA immunoreactive cell as compared to that of non treated animal group (p<0.01). The shape of PCNA immunoreactive cell appeared as small dark, round to ovoid structures. Most PCNA immunoreactive cells exhibited a high intensity of staining that contrasted sharply with the surrounding background. In conclusion, these findings suggest that GaAlAs laser treatments effectively enhance the epithelial wound healing by the stimulating cell proliferation. Furthermore, the majority of cell proliferation occurred in the margin of full thickness excisional wound.

• Korean Journal of Acupuncture
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• v.28 no.3
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• pp.1-12
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• 2011

Objectives : The purpose of this study is to review laser acupuncture studies to find possibility for applying high intensity laser to acupuncture and moxibustion treatment. Methods : Searching papers was performed using search engines of five electronic databases, including Pubmed, Thomson ISI, EMBASE, Sciencedirect, and EBSCO, from inception to May 2011 without language limitation. Inclusion criteria were clinical studies with human, randomized controlled trials (RCTs), case-control studies, and case reports. Selecting papers was performed with titles and abstracts in first step, scrutinize full text in second step, and then the extrated data was analyzed by two authors independently. The methodological quality for RCTs was evaluated using Jadad's scale. Results : Total 8 papers, (3 RCTs, 5 controlld studies, and 1 case reports), were finally selected. The study dealt with surgical laser, argon and $CO_2$ laser was one for each, with GaAs laser was two, and with new semiconductor laser, GaN, were four. The output range was from 110 mW to 15 W. The study diseases were alcohol addiction, knee osteoarthritis, bronchopneumonia and asthma for children, and circulation. All studies reported positive effect. The methodological quality in all RCTs was low because of below 3 points and all studies had few subject numbers. Conclusions : We suggest that high intensity laser can be applied to acupuncture and moxibustion. Further rigorous and well-designed study will be needed for various disease. The oriental medical society needs to take active measures to study and clinical application of acupuncture and moxibustion treatment with high intensity laser.

• Journal of Korean Physical Therapy Science
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• v.7 no.2
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• pp.545-558
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• 2000

The present study was designed to investigate the effect of low power GaAsAl laser on Fos expression in the spinal cord induced by noxious mechanical stimulation. Noxious mechanical stimulation was applied to the right hind paw following 30min of low power laser treatment using different intensity and treatment point and the resulting Fos expression in the spinal cord dorsal horn was compared to that obtained in rats exposed only to the noxious mechanical stimulation. The results were summarized as follows: 1. In intact control rats, only a few Fos like immunoreactive(Fos-IR) neurons were evident in the lumbar spinal cord dorsal horn. Similarly, following prolonged inhalation anesthesia, Fos-IR neurons were absent in the dorsal horn of the lumbar spinal cord. In animals treated with noxious mechanical stimulation, neurons with nuclei exhibiting Fos immunostaining were distributied mainly in the medial half of ipsilateral laminae I-V at lumbar segments L3-5. These findings directly indicated that prolonged anesthesia used in this study did not affect the Fos expression in the spinal cord dorsal horn of intact animals and noxious mechanical stimulation treated animals. 2. In acupoint treated animals, 10mW of laser stimulation, not 3mW intensity, significantly reduced the number of Fos immunoreactive neurons in the spinal dorsal horn induced by noxious mechanical stimulation(P<.01). However, the supressive effect of low power laser stimulatin was not observed in 3m Wand 10m W of laser stimulation into non-acupoint. These data indicate that 10mW of low power laser stimulation into acupoint is capable of inhibiting the expression of Fos in the dorsal horn induced by noxious mechanical stimulation. In conclusion, these findings raise the possibility that low power laser stimulation into acupoint may be a promising alternative medicine therapy for the mechanical stimulation induced pain in the clinical field.