<title>Changes of electrical conductivity and relative permittivity of blood in guinea pigs irradiated with low-energy lasers</title>

Abstract

The effect of infrared laser radiation on specific electrical conductivity and relative permittivity of blood in experimental animals was estimated. The experiment was carried out on 30 male guinea pigs weighing 280 - 320 g. Fifteen animals composed a group irradiated with laser, the other 15 animals made up a control group in which no irradiation was made. A semiconductive laser generating infrared radiation (wavelength -- 904 nm, frequency -- 800 Hz, pulse duration -- 200 ns, mean power -- 8.7 mW) was used. The right infracostal region of the animal was irradiated 3 minutes daily for 15 consecutive days. After the end of the experiment in the obtained blood the values of impedance and phase shift angle were measured by means of impedancemeters in the frequency range from 100 to 10,000 kHz. The values of specific electrical conductivity and relative permittivity were calculated on the basis of obtained data. A distinct increase of specific electrical conductivity and decrease of relative permittivity were obtained in the blood of irradiated animals at all frequencies, as compared to the controls. No changes in relaxation frequency were noticed between both groups. On the basis of obtained data it is possible to confirm a distinct effect of low-energy laser radiation on dielectric properties of blood in experimental animals. Since the observed changes in (chi) and (epsilon) ' occurred in (beta) -dispersion region, they might therefore be attributed to the charging of cell membranes in erythrocytes.© (1995) COPYRIGHT SPIE--The International Society for Optical Engineering. Downloading of the abstract is permitted for personal use only.