Blood irradiation therapy

Blood irradiation therapy is a procedure in which the blood is exposed to low level red light (often laser light) for therapeutic reasons. Most research on blood irradiation therapy has been conducted in Germany (by UV lamps), and in Russia (in all variants) while smaller-scale research has been performed in other countries such as Britain. The practice itself was developed in the U.S. Blood irradiation therapy can be administered in three ways. Extracorporeally, drawing blood out and irradiating it in a special cuvette. This method is used for the ultraviolet (UV) blood irradiation (UVBI) by UV lamps. The laser light is monochromatic, i.e. it has such a wavelength that allows you to bring light into the optical fiber and carry out irradiation intravenously through a catheter in a vein. This method is more simple and effective. Blood irradiation therapy is also administered externally through the skin on the projection of large blood vessels. It is not related to the practice of gamma irradiation of blood in transfusion medicine. 'Phototherapy' or 'photobiolumination,' as it was called in the early 20th century, was used to treat lupus vulgaris or tuberculosis of the skin, by Niels Finsen, who won the Nobel Prize for Physiology and Medicine in 1903. 900 patients were treated by Finsen. His work led to the introduction of heliotherapy as standard therapy for tuberculosis patients before the advent of antibiotics.