Review article

Only lasers can be used for low level laser therapy

State Scientific Center of Laser Medicine, Moscow 121165 Russia

^* Corresponding author. Doctor of Biological Sciences, Candidate of Engineering Sciences Leading Researcher; State Scientific Center of Laser Medicine, Moscow 121165 Russia. E-mail address: 7652612@mail.ru

Received: 20 April 2017
Accepted: 5 June 2017

Abstract

The question of lasers' exclusivity, as well as the degree of influence of special properties of low-intensity laser illumination (LILI), such as coherence, polarity and monochromaticity, on the effectiveness of low level laser therapy (LLLT) continues to cause arguments.

The study analyzes publications from 1973 to 2016, in which laser and conventional light sources are compared, and the following conclusions are drawn. First, there are a lot of publications with incorrect comparison or unfounded statements. Secondly, other sources of light are often meant by LILI without any justification. Thirdly, all studies, in which the comparison is carried out correctly and close parameters of the impact and the model are used, have a firm conclusion that laser light is much more effective. Fourthly, it is uniquely identified that the most important parameter that determines the efficiency of lasers is monochromaticity, i.e., a much narrower spectral width than for all other light sources.

Only laser light sources can be used for LLLT!