ASLMS, Ohio State University 2016

Lasers, LEDs and other Light Devices

The last few weeks has been very busy for us as we have asked to make presentations at three courses, conferences, and scientific meetings. These events started with a Thor Photomedicine day long course where we were asked to present several case studies from our practice. Thor is the manufacturer of the equipment we use at the Brockton Animal Hospital and one of the international leaders in calculating dosages of light as well as designing equipment for research. Harvard Medical School’s Wellman Center for Photomedicine at Massachusetts General Hospital is one of the prominent light research institutions in Boston that works with Thor. The following day it was on to the American Society for Laser Medicine and Surgery annual conference in Boston which involves over 1500 medical doctors, veterinarians, and researchers, all of whom are interested or involved in the field of light or laser therapy. The course offerings ranged from discussing state of the art cosmetic surgical procedures using high energy lasers, to athletic performance enhancement with lower power lasers, to describing drug free treatment of various arthritis and spinal problems and finally we presented our pilot study on the treatment of advanced stage kidney disease using Lasers and high intensity LED units. The kidney disease session was very well attended by veterinarians, human doctors and researchers alike. The veterinary sessions are generally very popular with people outside our field as we are often the first to utilize light therapy for diseases that haven’t previously been considered for treatment. Following the conference, I travelled to The Ohio State University College of Veterinary Medicine (my alma mater) to lead a course on Photobiomodulation Therapy (the actual name of laser therapy) to a group of veterinary students, clinicians, and faculty. The weather was less than cooperative (I drove two hours in snow to get there) but the course was well attended and well received. There is talk of returning in the fall to teach a longer version of the course to both veterinary and human medical students.

The best part of attending these events is I always walk away with new ideas of how to use light therapy to improve the lives of our patients. Most importantly, and once again, I would like to acknowledge all our clients who have been so accepting in allowing us to use this technology to treat their pets. Over the past eleven years we have administered thousands of LED and Laser therapy treatments with outstanding results. The gains we have made in this rapidly expanding field would not have been possible without your putting your trust in us.