Red light implant for treating Parkinson's disease
This invention relates to an implantable device that delivers an effective amounts of red light to the substantia nigra as a treatment for Parkinson's Disease (PD).
1. A method of treating a patient having a neurodegenerative disease, comprising the steps of:
a) implanting a device comprising an antenna and a light emitting diode (LED) in a brain of the patient,
b) transcutaneously transmitting Rf energy to the antenna in an amount sufficient to power the LED, and
c) irradiating a patient's brain with an effective amount of red or infrared light from the powered LED,
wherein irradiation of the brain is carried out with between about 0.2 J/cm 2 and 50 J/cm 2 energy and for a duration on the order of minutes,
wherein irradiation is carried out at an intensity of between ⅓ mW/cm2 and 625 mW/cm 2 .
2. The method of claim 1 wherein the light has a wavelength of between about 600 nm and 835 nm.
3. The method of claim 1 wherein the light has a wavelength of between about 800 and 900 nm.
4. The method of claim 1 wherein the light has a wavelength of between about 600 and 700 nm.
5. The method of claim 1 wherein the irradiation is effective to increase cytochrome oxidase activity in the brain.
6. The method of claim 1 wherein the irradiation is effective to increase catalase or SOD activity in the brain.
7. The method of claim 1 wherein the irradiation is effective to decrease NO synthase activity in the brain.
8. The method of claim 1 wherein irradiation of the brain is carried out with red light and white light.
9. A method of treating a patient having a neurodegenerative disease, comprising the steps of:
a) implanting a device comprising an antenna, a capacitor, and a light emitting diode (LED) in a brain of the patient,
b) transcutaneously transmitting Rf energy to the antenna in an amount sufficient to power the LED, and
c) continuously irradiating a patient's brain with an effective amount of red or infrared light from the powered LED,
wherein irradiation of the brain is carried out with between about 0.2 J/cm 2 and 50 J/cm 2 energy and for a duration on the order of minutes,
wherein irradiation is carried out at an intensity of between ⅓ mW/cm2 and 625 mW/cm 2 .
10. The method of claim 9 wherein the irradiation is for a duration of between 80 seconds and 10 minutes.
11. The method of claim 9 wherein irradiation is carried out with between about 1 J/cm 2 and 10 J/cm 2 energy.
12. The method of claim 1 , wherein irradiation is carried out for a duration of between 80 and 600 seconds.