Chromophores Absorb Quantum Light Energy

Chromophores are substances present in living tissues that absorb quantum light energy (all energy from the sun is quantum energy, or energy in its purest and smallest particle form). Examples of endogenous (existing inside the body) chromophores that absorb NIR, or near infrared quantum energy are hemoglobin, oxyhemoglobin, de-oxyhemoglobin and methemoglobin (absorbed by 808nm energy), water, protein, peptide bonds (absorbed by 980nm energy), aromatic amino acids, nucleic acid, urocanic acid and bilirubin (absorbed by UV energy (10nm to 400nm). Melanin in the skin also absorbs quantum UV energy at different rates according to skin pigmentation; then acts as an ‘umbrella’ to protect underlying tissue substances from destructive UV rays. Exogenous (existing outside the body), compounds, like colors of tattoo ink, also act as chromophores. 

Bilirubin as a Chromophore

For centuries, jaundiced infants have been placed near a window so sunlight can be employed to break down bilirubin in an infant’s bloodstream. The yellow color in an infant’s skin comes from a substance called bilirubin, a common material that comes from red blood cells when they age and die - this is also true for the elderly, and those suffering from liver failure. An average red blood cell lasts about 120 days, then most of it is recycled by the body except for bilirubin. Normally, the liver takes bilirubin out of the bloodstream and delivers it to the digestive system in the form of bile, which gets its greenish-yellow color from bilirubin. In the womb, the mother’s liver and placenta process bilirubin in an infant’s blood. 

When the child is born and the umbilical cord is cut, there's no more assistance from the mother’s liver or the placenta – the infant’s own liver suddenly has to start independently processing bilirubin. Sometimes, premature and infants who have a higher birth rate are prone to a build-up of bilirubin in the blood as the liver initially struggles to catch up with its new requirements. Mothers and doctors alike have known for centuries that bilirubin, as a chromophore, rapidly absorbs quantum UV energy from the sun due to its unique coloring. UV energy, unlike NIR energy, is destructive and rapidly breaks down the bilirubin so that it can be more easily absorbed and processed by the infant’s liver.    

Red blood cells (Erythrocytes), white blood cells (Leukocytes), and platelets (thrombocytes), make up 45% of blood tissue by volume, with the remaining 55% of the volume composed of plasma, the liquid component of blood. The 808nm wavelength is primarily absorbed by hemoglobin, vascular tissues, endothelial tissues muscle tissues. There are three types of muscle tissue: striated muscles, such as those that move the skeleton (also called voluntary muscle), smooth muscles (involuntary muscle), such as the muscles contained in the stomach and other internal organs, and cardiac muscle, which makes up most of the heart wall (also an involuntary muscle).

Water as a Chromophore

The liquid component (water) of the human body is contained in the tissues, the blood, the bones, and elsewhere; this water makes up a significant portion of the human body, both by weight and by volume, and ranges from maximum 78.1% to minimum 54.8%. It is made up of primarily plasma; fatty tissues contain less water content than lean tissues. Ensuring the right amount of body fluids is an important aspect of homeostasis; proper hydration is also very important for successful photomedicine treatments. The 980nm wavelength is primarily absorbed by tissue fluids, as well as nerve tissues, ligamentous and bony (structural tissues), white adipose tissues fatty tissues, other connective and lymphatic tissues that are lightly pigmented.

DNA contains molecules that absorb and transfer quantum energy via the F.R.E.T. (Fluorescent Resonance Energy Transfer) process. Substances in DNA (receptor chromophores) are excited by quantum energy to a higher vibrational, or energy state - they then resonate, or transfer the higher energy state to acceptor chromophores (targeted substances in DNA). This process is enhanced by high volumes of excited quantum particles to direct higher energy states where it is most needed; in addition, laser energy represents a control of photochemical reactions that mimics and greatly enhances the mitochondrial functional response to natural light, much like photosynthesis in plants, algae, and many types of bacteria except at a more highly accelerated rate.

Melanin as a Chromophore

Epithelial tissue covers the body surface and forms the lining for most internal cavities – melanin is found primarily in epithelial tissues, and in the skin presents a barrier to NIR energy absorption and penetration, and is readily absorbed by 1064nm as well as lower wavelengths in the UV range (10nm to 400nm). More than 60% of directed quantum energy from a therapy laser is attenuated by melanin in the skin.