Near Infrared LED: An Emerging Technology on the Treatment of Stroke

Near infrared is a subdivision in the infrared spectrum between the range of 800 nanometers and 2,500 nanometers wavelength. There are no exact numbers on these wavelengths. Near Infrared is found on the right outermost of the visible light band of the electromagnetic spectrum. Visible Light near infrared emits irradiation in the spectrum of the human eye and its electromagnetic spectrum is in the range of 380 nanometers-760 nanometers, which can be detected by the human eye. Infrared light is an electromagnetic radiation that has a wavelength longer than a visible light. The technique to obtain near infrared using Light Emitting Diodes has made the equipment easier to manipulate, more accessible, and easier to operate. Electromagnetic waves are waves of energy having a frequency within the electromagnetic spectrum and propagated as a periodic disturbance of the electromagnetic field. When an electric charge oscillates or accelerates not all photons are visible to the human eye. What we see as light is only a minute range of the spectrum of electromagnetic waves associated with photons. The entire spectrum includes radio waves, infrared radiation, visible light, ultraviolet rays, x-rays, gamma rays, and cosmic radiation. The photons of different regions of the electromagnetic spectrum vibrate differently and have different amounts of energy. Examples of near infrared devices are night vision goggles, digital cameras, remote controls, etc. [1]. Near infrared discovery is credited to Herschel during the 1800s, but the industrial use of near infrared was not developed until the 1950s when the near infrared was used as an add-on unit to other optical devices with a different wavelength, such as the ultraviolet spectrometers. Today near infrared is used in a variety of clinical and medical applications such as molecular spectroscopy, photodynamic therapy, optic thermography, photobiomodulation, remote monitoring, thermal radiation (heat) and other optical devices. Light Emitting Diodes were first developed in 1927 by Oleg Losev, a Russian scientist, who distributed his research in several scientific journals, but there was no use for it for several decades until 1955 when Rubin Braunstein found near infrared emission generated by the diode structures using gallium arsenide. In 1961, Robert Biard and Gary Pittman, from Texas Instrument, discovered that gallium arsenide could emit infrared radiation when an electrical current is applied to the diode. In 1962, Nick Holonyak, seen as the father of Light Emitting Diodes, developed the first visible spectrum (RED) Light Emitting Diodes while working with General Electric Company. George Crawford, a former student of Holonyak’s, developed a (YELLOW) Light Emitting Diode and also increased the brightness of the red and orange Light Emitting Diodes to a factor of ten in 1972 [2]. The remarkable scientific discovery of the Light Emitting Diode started out as an attempt to develop light that would allow for the growth of plants in space, which was proposed by Ronald W. Ignatius, the founder and chairman of the board at Quantum Devices Inc. in Barneveld, Wisconsin. The company’s proposition was made at a meeting held by the Wisconsin Center for Space Automation and Robotics, a NASA-sponsored research center that was facilitating the commercialization of robotics, automation, and other advanced technologies. The proposal proved successful which led to the production of Astroculture3, a plant growth chamber that successfully incorporated this Light Emitting Diode light source, which has now flown on several space shuttle missions. According to Whelan et al. [3] Light Emitting Diodes use longer wavelengths than the laser, and while the laser can pinpoint one location in the body the Light Emitting Diode can treat the entire body, which makes the light emitting diode useful in treating serious burns, crush injuries, and complications of cancer. Light Emitting Diode therapy equipment is versatile, portable, cost Opinion