Light-emitting fabrics for photodynamic therapy

Yesim Oguz , Cedric Cochrane, Serge R. Mordon,  

Photodynamic therapy (PDT) is dedicated to the treatment of cancerous and noncancerous skin lesions (such as head, neck, etc.) by activating injected photosensitisers (Seim et al., 2007). 

A homogeneous and reproducible fluence-rate delivery during clinical PDT is a determinant of under- or overtreatment. In dermatology, topical PDT has been carried out with a wide variety of light sources dehvering a broad range of light doses. Irradiance is usually limited to less than 100 mW cm (Seim et al., 2007). 

the irradiance may be as low as 38% of the central area at a distance of only 2 cm. These measurements were made on a flat surface the heterogeneity is even greater during illumination of curved surfaces (face, scalp, arm, etc.). 

Lately, another project, Place-It, realised by Ohmatex, contains the latest technologies in LEDs and OLEDs to create soft, flexible textile materials. The project brings together lighting and technical performance with elasticity, comfort and washability across large surfaces with the aim of integrating electronics in daily objects such as smart bandages for health care purposes. 

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Mordon, S., Cochrane, C., Tylcz, J.B., Betrouni, N., Mortier, L., Koncar, V., 2015. Light emitting fabric technologies for photodynamic therapy. Photodiagnosis and Photodynamic Therapy 12 (1), 1—8. 

Different techniques are used to combine SEOFs into a light-emitting fabric, however, some are more efficient than others. The present section provides three examples of what has been described in the literamre about the design of light-emitting textiles or textile-like structures. Of course, this is not an exhaustive review since incorporation of optical fibres into textile exists for a variety of other apphcations than photodynamic therapy (from fashion design to data communication [12]). 

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