EXTRAOCULAR LIGHT TREATMENT

眼外光治疗

• 批准号: 6072187
• 负责人: HENRY C SAVAGE
• 金额: $ 10.03万
• 依托单位: APOLLO LIGHT SYSTEMS, INC.
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 财政年份: 2000
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2000-03-01 至 2001-02-28
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/6072187
• 关键词: biomedical equipment development; circadian rhythms; clinical research; human subject; human therapy evaluation; knee; phototherapy; placebos; seasonal affective disorder; sleep

Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD, winter depression) is a relatively common form of depression. The standard therapy for SAD, exposure to bright light for one half hour or more each morning during symptomatic episodes, is highly effective for most patients but is hardly convenient, therapeutically inadequate for some, and possibly unsafe for patients with certain retinal diseases. Light applied to the back of the human knee, rather than to the eye, has recently been shown to shift circadian rhythms: since light treatment for SAD may act through such shifts, such extraocular light may be an effective therapy for SAD. If a lightweight, compact, wearable source for extraocular light were available and shown to be effective in SAD, some of the significant limitations of bright light therapy might be overcome. Patients might receive therapy while engaged in their usual activities. Such therapy might be applied during sleep, when sensitivity to circadian phase shifts is maximal, and be more effective than conventional bright light therapy. Lastly, extraocular light would not expose the eye to bright light which might be contraindicated in certain retinal disorders. This project will produce a wearable unit for applying light to this area using light-emitting diodes, will test the device's efficacy in treating SAD in a placebo-controlled, double blind randomized trial, and explore its efficacy in sleep as well as waking hours. PROPOSED COMMERCIAL APPLICATIONS: If the proposed device is effective in treating SAD, a simple, inexpensive, convenient unit would be commercially available for millions of individuals who suffer from this disorder. Such a unit could also be useful in treatment of other seasonal psychiatric disorders, circadian rhythm disorders such as sleep syndromes, and in some instances non-seasonal depression.

季节性情感障碍（SAD，冬季抑郁症）是一种相对常见的抑郁症。SAD的标准疗法，即在症状发作期间每天早上暴露于强光半小时或更长时间，对大多数患者非常有效，但对某些患者来说很不方便，治疗不足，并且对某些视网膜疾病患者可能不安全。应用于人类膝盖后部而不是眼睛的光最近已被证明会改变昼夜节律：由于SAD的光治疗可能通过这种变化起作用，因此这种眼外光可能是SAD的有效治疗。如果一个轻便，紧凑，可穿戴的眼外光源是可用的，并证明是有效的SAD，明亮的光治疗的一些重大限制可能会被克服。患者可以在从事日常活动时接受治疗。这种疗法可以在睡眠期间应用，此时对昼夜节律相移的敏感性最大，并且比传统的强光疗法更有效。最后，眼外光不会使眼睛暴露在强光下，这可能是某些视网膜疾病的禁忌。该项目将生产一种可穿戴设备，用于使用发光二极管将光应用于该区域，将在安慰剂对照的双盲随机试验中测试该设备治疗SAD的功效，并探索其在睡眠和清醒时的功效。拟议的商业应用：如果所提出的设备能有效治疗SAD，那么一种简单、廉价、方便的设备将可供数百万患有这种疾病的人购买。这样的单元也可以用于治疗其他季节性精神疾病，昼夜节律紊乱，如睡眠综合征，在某些情况下，非季节性抑郁症。