| "It's wonderful to see the technologies developed for our research have such powerful impact on peoples' lives." WCSAR Director Weijia Zhou |
Light-emitting diodes used to grow plants on NASA's Space Shuttle are now being used in Earth's hospital rooms to treat mouth sores developed because of cancer treatments. Photo by Barry Himelhoch.
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Offshoots of an idea to grow plants in space are producing ways to help patients on Earth. With the help of technology developed for the Wisconsin Center for Space Automation and Robotics (WCSAR) at the UW-Madison College of Engineering, doctors at the Medical College of Wisconsin in Milwaukee have discovered the healing power of light.
Using powerful light-emitting diodes, or LEDs, originally designed for WCSAR's AstrocultureTM plant growth research, scientists are examining how this lighting technology helps hard-to-heal wounds, such as serious burns and severe oral sores caused by chemotherapy and radiation. The project includes laboratory and human trials approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, funded by a NASA Small Business Innovation Research contract at NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama.
"So far, what we've seen in patients and what we have seen in laboratory cell cultures, all point to one conclusion," said Harry Whelan, professor of pediatric neurology and director of hyperbaric medicine at the Medical College of Wisconsin. "The near-infrared light emitted by these LEDs seems to be perfect for increasing energy inside cells. This means whether you're on Earth or on your way to Mars inside a spaceship, the LEDs boost energy to the cells and accelerate healing."
Whelan's research has already seen remarkable results using the light-emitting diodes to promote healing of painful mouth ulcers caused by cancer therapies such as radiation and chemotherapy. The treatment is quick and painless.
The wound-healing device is a small, 3.5-inch by 4.5-inch, portable flat array of LEDs, arranged in rows on the top of a small box. A nurse practitioner places the box of LEDs on the outside of the patient's cheek for about one minute each day. The red light seems to promote wound healing and prevent further sores.
Whelan's collaboration with NASA began when Ronald Ignatius, owner of Quantum Devices Inc. in Barneveld, Wis., learned about Whelan's brain cancer surgery technique using drugs stimulated by laser lights.
"The LEDs needed to grow plants in space produced the same wavelengths of light needed to remove brain tumors," said Ignatius. "Plus, when we developed the LEDs for WCSAR, they had to be lightweight to fly aboard the shuttle and have small cooling systems. These traits make the LED probes easier to use in the operating room and thousands of dollars cheaper than laser systems."
Quantum Devices altered the probe to emit longer wavelengths of red light that stimulate a photodynamic drug. Doctors recently completed the first-ever surgery with the improved probe and medicine.
"It's wonderful to see the technologies developed for our research have such powerful impact on peoples' lives," says WCSAR Director Weijia Zhou. "It is part of our mission to see that technology developed for the space program enhances economic development and quality of life on Earth. This is an excellent example of that mission in action."
In the laboratory, Whelan and his team have shown that skin and muscle cells grown in cultures and exposed to the LED infrared light grow 150 to 200 percent faster than control cultures not stimulated by the light. Scientists are trying to learn how cells convert light into energy, and identify which wavelengths of light are most effective at stimulating growth in different kinds of cells.
Researchers will continue to examine the influence of LEDs on cells grown in the laboratory, and will explore the benefits that LEDs might provide to counteract possible cell damage caused by exposure to harmful radiation and weightlessness during long space missions.
--By Courtesy of Marshall Space Flight Center, NASA--
| For further information, please contact: |
Weijia Zhou, 608/262-5526
wzhou@facstaff.wisc.edu
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Date last modified: Thursday, 31-May-2001 09:06:25 CDT
Date created: 31-May-2001
