THERALUX

Engineering Light-Based Approaches to Treat Acne

Acne affects nearly ten percent of the global population. Approximately 80 percent of all individuals experience acne at one point in their lives. It deeply affects an individual’s confidence and may lead to occasional isolation and depression. Acne is caused by the clogging of pores through excess of oil (sebum) production, collection of dead skin cells in pores, and their inflammation due to growth of bacteria, Propionibacterium acnes. Application of topical creams has been somewhat successful, but these are expensive, need frequent replacement and some show adverse reaction.  Light therapy, however, has proved to be a safe and effective alternative approach to treat acne. Existing light therapy options are expensive, some costing over $3000.00. Low budget models (e.g., Neutrogena Light Therapy Mask), are pricey and have a fixed usage. My engineering goal was to design and build an affordable and versatile light therapy mask that would utilize proven effective wavelengths to reduce the inflammation in acne sites as well as inhibit the growth of acne causing bacteria. After several iterations, my present model, “TheraLux” is five-times cheaper than the Neutrogena Mask and consists of more LED’s.  TheraLux matches the wavelengths that have been proven to be effective in addressing the goals previously stated. The TheraLux mask allows the user to obtain the same results as other commercially available light-therapies, and also control the areas of application, while not limiting the number of usages as well as lowering the cost of the treatment. For more information on TheraLux please click the following link.