The effects of low level laser radiation on bacterial growth

Objective: The low level lasers currently in the market vary in wavelength, dosage, and frequency. These devices are used with much different clinical pathology. Most notably, some studies claim that wounds heal faster with low level laser therapy due to the fact that bacteria commonly found in wounds are killed by laser light. Systemic and meta-analysis studies found the difficulty of comparison of numerous research studies because of differences in the intensities and frequencies of low level laser treatment (LLLT). The purpose of this study was to determine the effectiveness of LLLT on controlling bacterial growth. Design: Cross-sectional study. Methods: Variables included LLLT dosage and wavelength on 3 bacteria commonly seen in wounds, strains of Staphylococcus aureus, Escherichia coli, and Pseudomonas aeruginosa were used on commercially available 5.0-cm agar plates. Blue, green, and red, ultraviolet (UV) and infrared laser light sources were adjusted to either low or high intensity settings. Five Petri dishes at a time were placed directly beneath laser light sources with the exception of UV which was placed six inches below the suspended light and infrared which was placed directly on top of the Petri dish lid. Each group of five Petri dishes was irradiated for 15 minutes. Results: The results showed no effect of any of 9 different LLLT intensities or colors on bacteria growth compared to sham light. Conclusions: At least for claims of bacterial growth inhibition with LLLT, no support for this claim can be found here.