A pilot clinical study lead by LumiThera founders from The Toronto and Oak Ridge Study of Photobiomodulation (TORPA) looked at the effect of photobiomodulation (PBM) in the treatment of dry AMD. The TORPA data for dry AMD patient’s showed clinically and statistically significant improvement in both visual acuity and contrast sensitivity. TORPA Clinical Study
The clinical benefits were still seen at up to one year of follow-up, demonstrating the potential use of photobiomodulation (PBM) in the treatment of dry-AMD patients.
More clinical studies are required to obtain approval for this treatment and LumiThera is developing a commercial instrument for the ophthalmologists and is planning further clinical studies to support regulatory approval.
The TORPA II Clinical Study has now evaluated anatomical changes at the retinal level in dry AMD patient case series following PBM treatment. The study utilized 3 PBM sessions per week for 3 weeks with a multi-wavelength PBM treatment. PBM resulted in anatomical improvement evidenced with OCT of a decrease in drusen volume following PBM, while overall central retinal thickness and retinal volume remained constant.
Visual Acuity improved in over 90% of subjects with 59.5% achieving better than 5 letters score improvement and 11.9% achieving better than 10 letters score on ETDRS visual acuity testing, representing significant improvement in visual function. Improvements in detailed vision or contrast sensitivity were also significant and correlated to the improvements in visual acuity. The study results found benefits across all AREDS subgroups, which implies that PBM may be beneficial at early and later stages of dry AMD.
Journal article: http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/aos.13354/full
