A flexible, and wireless LED therapy patch for skin wound photomedicine with IoT-connected healthcare application

Abstract

Low-level laser therapy (LLLT), also known as photobiomodulation, is a safe and noninvasive method for various dermatological applications. However, most LLLT devices have limitations, such as low flexibility, high energy consumption, and huge equipment size, limiting their usage in daily life and clinical treatment. This study presents a flexible and wireless light emitting diode (LED) patch with an internet of thing (IoT) healthcare platform for wound healing applications. The flexible LED patch was designed with a high-efficiency performance of thermal stability, device uniformity, and mechanical durability for skin-attachable phototherapies application and clinical use. The application of a smartphone app with an IoT-connected healthcare platform for the flexible LED patch opens tremendous opportunities for the development of a remote healthcare system with cost-effectiveness in the future. In wound healing test on normal human fibroblasts, the LED light was proven to have no cytotoxic effect with high fibroblast proliferation and fibroblast migration (over 16% compared to control) under various light irradiations. Furthermore, a high association between wavelengths and exposure duration with biologic responses and migration effects was indicated in the study. The cell proliferation and migration experiments show the necessity of optimizing LED wavelength, radiation doses for better clinical assessment. Based on the results, the flexible LED patch is expected to be a suitable photomedical device for various types of dermatology applications.