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Review

Light as a Cure in COVID-19: A Challenge for Medicine

by
Laura Marinela Ailioaie
1,
Constantin Ailioaie
1 and
Gerhard Litscher
2,*
1
Department of Medical Physics, Alexandru Ioan Cuza University, 11 Carol I Boulevard, 700506 Iasi, Romania
2
President of ISLA (International Society for Medical Laser Applications), Research Unit of Biomedical Engineering in Anesthesia and Intensive Care Medicine, Research Unit for Complementary and Integrative Laser Medicine, and Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) Research Center Graz, Department of Anesthesiology and Intensive Care Medicine, Medical University of Graz, Auenbruggerplatz 39, 8036 Graz, Austria
*
Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Photonics 2022, 9(10), 686; https://doi.org/10.3390/photonics9100686
Submission received: 6 August 2022 / Revised: 14 September 2022 / Accepted: 16 September 2022 / Published: 23 September 2022

Abstract

Light and lasers, as high-tech devices whose medical potential has yet to be fully discovered, have made important contributions to medicine, even in the current pandemic. The main aim of this review was to investigate how light was applied as a therapeutic tool during a crisis triggered by COVID-19. Another goal was to encourage scientists and industry to quickly design new at-home photobiomodulation therapy (PBMT) and/or antimicrobial photodynamic therapy (aPDT) easy to use systems to end this pandemic, especially for those who believe in high-tech but would never get vaccinated. This review revealed that PBMT has been successfully applied as adjunct therapy, in combination with conventional medical treatment, and as a pioneering action in SARS-CoV-2 infection, demonstrating significant improvements in airway inflammation and general clinical condition of patients, a faster recovery, avoiding intensive care unit (ICU) hospitalization, mechanical ventilation, mortality, and overcoming long-term sequelae. Application in only a limited number of cases strongly suggests the need for future randomized, placebo-controlled clinical trials to objectively determine the action and effects of PBMT in COVID-19. Implementation of unparalleled theragnostics methods and light-based techniques for disinfection of spaces, air, skin, mucosae, and textures to decrease the load of SARS-CoV-2 virus would save lives, time, and money. In this ongoing and challenging search for the seemingly intangible end of this pandemic, a non-invasive, easily accessible, safe, and side-effect-free adjuvant method appears to be PBMT, alone or in synergistic combination with aPDT, which has been shown to work in COVID-19 and opens unprecedented potential for use as home self-treatment to end the pandemic.
Keywords: antimicrobial; cytokine storm; hyperinflammation; immunomodulation; lasers; LEDs; photobiomodulation; photodynamic therapy; SARS-CoV-2 antimicrobial; cytokine storm; hyperinflammation; immunomodulation; lasers; LEDs; photobiomodulation; photodynamic therapy; SARS-CoV-2

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MDPI and ACS Style

Ailioaie, L.M.; Ailioaie, C.; Litscher, G. Light as a Cure in COVID-19: A Challenge for Medicine. Photonics 2022, 9, 686. https://doi.org/10.3390/photonics9100686

AMA Style

Ailioaie LM, Ailioaie C, Litscher G. Light as a Cure in COVID-19: A Challenge for Medicine. Photonics. 2022; 9(10):686. https://doi.org/10.3390/photonics9100686

Chicago/Turabian Style

Ailioaie, Laura Marinela, Constantin Ailioaie, and Gerhard Litscher. 2022. "Light as a Cure in COVID-19: A Challenge for Medicine" Photonics 9, no. 10: 686. https://doi.org/10.3390/photonics9100686

APA Style

Ailioaie, L. M., Ailioaie, C., & Litscher, G. (2022). Light as a Cure in COVID-19: A Challenge for Medicine. Photonics, 9(10), 686. https://doi.org/10.3390/photonics9100686

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