Ultra-Low-Level Laser Therapy and Acupuncture Libralux: What Is so Special?

Abstract

Background: Contrary to the most credited theories on laser therapy that see power/energy as the major factors to its effectiveness, a technique using an extremely low power/energy laser stimulation to treat musculoskeletal pain and dysfunction is proposed. The stimulus consists of a 20 s train of modulated pulses with an average power below 0.02 mW and is applied on sequences of acupuncture points selected according to the impaired segment of the patient’s body. Methods: Modifications on the extracellular soft tissue matrix and on the “fascia” were sonographically demonstrated. Laboratory and clinical tests confirmed the effectiveness. Results: Responses similar to those experienced in acupuncture were observed. The device—a CE Class IIa certified medical device named Libralux—affords a clinically proven effectiveness exceeding 80% in the treatment of musculoskeletal conditions and associated motor dysfunctions. An average of just three application sessions was generally sufficient to overcome the dysfunction. Conclusions: The development of the method is supported by over 20 years of R&D activities, with a range of experiments discussed in several papers published in indexed peer-reviewed journals. A few considerations regarding the possible physiological action mechanisms involved are proposed in this paper.

Photobiomodulation of Acupoints on Standardized Therapeutic Protocols: An Example of Successful Integration between Eastern and Western Medicine

“…The structures of the body, consisting of bones, tendons and muscles, is an excellent example, but the theory also applies to cell structure, and to the intra and extra-cellular fluids which exert variable pressures on the cell itself [10,11]. For a better understanding of the MoA of acupuncture, see the following references [12][13][14][15][16][17][18][19].…”

Modulation of Gluteus Medius Strength by Yang Qiao Mai Stimulation: A Multiple Case Report

“…The laser provides redlight emission (λ=650nm) with a peak output of 7 mW and an average power of 0.0175 mW, thanks to a combined duty cycle of 0.25%. The application performed consisted of 20 seconds of radiation on each acupoint, emitting a dose of energy over 50,000 times smaller than any conventional low power laser applied in medical treatments, interacting with the redox cycle of the proteoglycans of the extracellular soft tissue matrix present in the acupuncture point funnels [13] . Remarkable similarities have been observed between the photobiostimulation and conventional needle acupuncture of the same points to treat musculoskeletal conditions (stimulation of combinations of well-known acupuncture points according to standardized protocols) [14] some ophthalmological conditions (treatments of amblyopia [15] , eye blood perfusion in wide angle glaucoma [16] , and the effects of LU7 Lieque stimulation on respiration depth and frequency [17] ).…”

“…Acupuncture points also appear to show greater laser light absorption than surrounding tissues [26] . The measured resonance frequencies of the meridians (Figure 7) were adopted for the Libralux [13] .…”

The Effect of Lifting‐and‐Thrusting Laser Acupuncture on Electrodermal Activity of Acupoints, Pulse Characteristics, and Brainwave

“…Although several physiological metrics, such as bloodfow velocity and skin temperature [44][45][46][47][48], have been used to evaluate the efcacy of laser acupuncture, to the best of our knowledge, there are no studies reporting the changes in skin resistance and pulse characteristics after laser acupuncture. In this work, we investigate whether laser acupuncture, with or without lifting-and-thrusting function, can achieve a similar efect as the needle acupuncture by observing the changes in acupoint conductance, pulse-wave characteristics, heart rate variability (PRV), and band power of electroencephalography (EEG).…”