Scientists at French-based MDB Texinov have developed a wearable knitted laser fabric that blasts the skin with light to treat skin conditions like actinic keratosis and Paget disease in a single session.
Dubbed Fluxmedicare, the product is a light emitting textile that has been created by using textile technology that knits in fine optical fibers. “The textile is wrapped around the skin and then plugged into a light source that emits red light (638 nm),” says Nadege Boucard, Ph.D., general manager of R&D for Texinov.
Compared to similar technologies, “our textile is very flexible and comfortable for the patient. In fact, the textile wraps around the unique, individual contours of the patient,” Dr. Boucard tells The Aesthetic Channel. “The light emitted is also extremely homogeneous, thus allowing the clinician to perfectly control the treatment and its efficiency.”
The protocol for the procedure, which is performed in a medical setting, is the same as that used for standard photodynamic therapy (PDT).
After the photosensitizer (cream) is applied on the lesion, the patient waits 30 minutes for the cream to incubate. “The light is then applied for 150 minutes, causing the targeted destruction of precancerous cells by a reaction between the light, the photosensitizer and oxygen,” Dr. Boucard explains.
A clinical Phase II trial has shown that Fluxmedicare is as effective as conventional PDT treatment for actinic keratosis of the scalp and forehead, with 80% less pain, a notable benefit as the intensity of PDT can cause severe pain and skin redness as well. “Burns and redness [with PDT] can last for several days,” Dr. Boucard says. And because PDT originates from a flat source, much of the emitted light does not reach its intended target.
Texinov says its product can treat and even cure skin conditions like acne, psoriasis and newborn jaundice.
Fluxmedicare is expected to become commercially available in Europe this spring at a price of about one-third that of conventional PDT therapy.
