Treatment of dry Age-related Macular Degeneration with Photobiomodulation

Objective: To evaluate if LED Photobiomodulation (PBM) can affect vision in patients with dry Age-Related Macular Degeneration (AMD). Methods: Prospective interventional case series. Near Infra Red (NIR) and yellow wavelengths of low powered LED light were applied to eyes with AMD in serial consecutive treatments. Included were patients with dry AMD, 50 years or older and with visual acuity between 20/20 - 20/200. Primary outcome measures selected were change in visual acuity, contrast sensitivity and fixation stability. Results: The treatment protocol was completed in 18 eyes (9 patients). Changes in visual acuity (p<0.0001) and contrast sensitivity (p<0.0001 at 3 cycles/degree and p<0.0032 at 1.5 cycles/degree) were positive and significant. There were no significant changes in fixation stability parameters. Conclusions: LED PBM proves to be beneficial for improvement of vision and contrast sensitivity as well as a safe treatment for dry AMD in this pilot study. Larger studies are warranted to validate the findings from this study.