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‘Shin Research and Teology 1997; 3: 177-180 Print in Denmark. All rights resroed Cite © Manag 907 ‘Skin Research and Technology ISSN 0209-7524 Short communication Low-level luminescence of the human skin S. Cohen and F. A. Popp International Institute of Biophysics, Biophoton Research, Neuss, Germany Background/aims/methods: For the fist time systematic mea- ‘surements of the low-level luminescence of the human skin (“bl ‘ophotons”) have been performed by means of a photon detector device set up in darkness. Results: Several months of dally investigations have shown that body light emission follows definite and well-known biological rhythms, such as 14 days, 1 month, 3 months, 9 months, and reflects the left-right symmetry of the body. The results confirm that biophotons are related to physiological functions. Conclusions: This technique provides a new and powerful non- invasive diagnostic method. In particular, skin research and de- ‘velopment may use it for testing the influence of different skin treatments. Key words: biophotons — low-level luminescence — non-invasive skin diagnosis © Munksgaard, 1997 Accepted for publication 25 November 1996 Bomresensen refers to a very weak but per- manent light emission from active biological tissues, It is now known that its intensity ranges from a few to some hundred photons per second and per square centimeter surface area, at least within the spectral region from 200 to 800 nm. In contrast to bio- luminescence, it is a universal phenomenon common to all living systems and correlated to many — if not all — functions of cellular tissues (1-4). In recent years the interest in, and the literature about, this field increased drastically and the appli- cation of biophoton emission now spreads quickly to new fields, such as blood monitoring, biosensors, and food-quality control (5). However, there is no unanimity on the source(s) and the biological significance of this “low-level lumi- nescence”. On one hand, it is a “radical-hypothesis”; and on the other, it is a more holistic attempt to find answers to these open questions (6, 7). Some years ago it was even postulated that “body light points to health” (8). After many years of investigating cells and tissues, wwe started to focus on human skin light ertission and to observe its variations over several months. Method In order to investigate the properties of the human skin, we built a dark chamber, large and comfortable enough for two people (9), in which we installed a movable biophoton detector (photomultiplier: EMI 9558 QA, selected type) that in sufficient darkness provides a count rate lower than 0.1 count/(s cm?) ‘The single-photon counting technique of measure- ment is not new. It has been reported elsewhere (2, 3, 5) We then started a systematic longtime-monitoring of the biophoton jion (bpe) and the so-called “delayed luminescence” (dle) of the hands and the forehead of a person (healthy woman, 27), where only round skin areas of 7 cm diameter were exam- ined. The delayed luminescence is the rescattered light emission after illumination with an external lamp (5). The irradiation time of the 150 W tungsten lamp was always 5 s. One hundred ms. after switching off the external lamp the first measure- ment value of delayed luminescence was. then recorded. Only 256 values of the rescattered light were taken up within preset time intervals of 100 ms. The measure of bpe is the mean value of 256 ‘measurement values in counts/s, and the first value 100 ms after excitation (counts/100 ms) has been taken as a measure of dle. These measurements were performed between 8 and 10 am. in the morning from June 8, 1995 to March 5, 1996 for the hands and from August 29, 1995 to March 5, 1996 for the fore- head. 177 Cohen & Popp Results It turned out that the biophoton intensity of human skin is measurable at least in the wavelength range from 400 to 800 nm, where the photomultiplier is sen- sitive. The order of magnitude of the count rate is a few up to some hundred photons/(s-cm?). The exact value depends on the individual, on the time of meas- ‘urement and on the location on the skin. The biopho- ton emission is generally rather stable. The mean value does not change considerably during some min- utes of investigation, However, it may vary within a few hours between a few percent of the original value up to ten-times higher or lower values, again depend- ing on the individual situation. Figure 1 shows in the left column the bpe variations and in the right column the dle variations of the right and left hand as well as of the forehead. The values display some patterns, where the mean values and the standard deviations over the whole measurement period are: bpe (counts/s), right hand: 12.928,7, left hand: 10.7+6.6, forehead: 4.7+2.6; dle (counts/100 ° = ao! 7 1200) Po po re 7 be ie 3 is 0 ea 80 HHO 60 80 BO a0 FTO Time (days) re _ 5 1400 » E Countsis Counts/100ms ane G90 10 180 WO 20 maa 270 Time (days) Counts/100ms » Time (days) 178 0m em ime Te 1 3 60 8120 180 480 210 240 270 sao to «0 °C ms), right hand: 3592183, left hand: 400+230, fore- head: 245147. ‘The cross-correlation analysis of these temporal bpe and dle variations reveals the following characteristics: © Left hand and right hand emissions are equally strongly correlated for bpe and dle (Fig. 2a,b, re- spectively). © Bpe and dle are not correlated, but to a significant extent are anti-correlated (Fig. 2c). © The bpe-values of the forehead are not correlated with those of the hands (Fig. 3a), but there is a sig- nificant correlation of the dle values of the forehead and the hands (Fig. 3b). The Fourier analysis of the temporal bpe and dle values of Fig. 1 is shown in Fig. 4, where the spectral, densities of the different measurements of Fig. 1 are displayed always on the corresponding positions of Fig. 4. It is obvious that all these spectral densities show a similar pattern of rhythms, including 7, 14, 21, 27, 90 and 270 days. Time (days) 4 Fig. 1. Biophoton emission and delayed luminescence variations: a/b/) Biopho- = ton emission variations of a) right hand, b) lft hand, rom June 8, 1995 to March 5, 1996 (271 days) and c) fore= ead from August 29, 1995 to March 5, 1996 (190 days) d/e/f) Delayed —lumin- scence aariations afd) right hand, €) left hand over 271 days and §) forehead over 190 Time (days) days. Time (days) ot 160 180 Lag cor. 60.08 -20 0.23) 0 091 30 0.06 60-17. Lag Corr. 80-01; — = 0-12) 0 oat 30 «19 60 0.15 = “A 05 0 1 Fig. 2. Cross-correlations of hand measurements from August 29, 1995 to March 5, 1996: a) ofthe biophoton emission variations of lft hand (first) and right hand (lagged), b) of the delayed! luminescence vari ations of left hand (rst) and right hard (agged) and c) of the Biopho- ton emission (frst) and delayed luminescence (lagged) vwriations of left hand. The corelations (Corr) are calculated for a lag of 0 through 60 days Conclusions We are not able at this stage to present a complete interpretation of the results. Nevertheless the clear preference of right- and left-hand correlation indicates a regulatory role of this bpe and dle phenomenon, which is confirmed with the Fourier pattern that re- veals well-known biological rhythms. The results can then be understood in terms of an oscillating body-photon field that follows definite Low-level luminescence of human skin shythms and where the amplitudes become stronger with decreasing frequency. However, the phases of the oscillations depend on the location within the body. Further investigations of ears, legs and feet have in addition confirmed that corresponding points on the left and right side of the body have the same phases, while non-corresponding, points display phase shifts to such an extent that their bpe becomes different, Various measurements have to be performed in the future in order to uncover the regulation principles behind this biophoton emission of the human skin, Nevertheless, the investigation of the low-level lu- minescence of the human skin already provides anew and powerful non-invasive tool, useful, if riot necess; ary, for the development of skin science. Its high sen- sitivity can be applied in all fields of skin research, in investigating skin abnormalities and in testing the ef- fect and efficacy of such products as regenerative, anti-ageing, and UV light protective agents. Acknowledgements This work has been supported by the BMBF Project 01 BM 403/5 (Biophotonic Communication). Lag Corr. 80-28) -30 0.09) 0 040 30 0.20 60 0.081 a Lag Corr. -60 0.03) -30 0.20 9 060) 30-12 60 -.09| “A 05 ° os 1 Fig. 3. Cross-correlations ofthe left hand and forehead measurements {rom August 29, 1995 to March 5, 1996: a) ofthe biophoton emission ‘variations of lt hand (frst) and forehead (lagged) and b) ofthe delay- ced luminescence variations of left hand (frst) and forehead (lagged) The correlations (Cort) are calculated for lag of O through 60 days. 179 Cohen & Popp & é ft ft 2 2 He i z z i i ° Tea sane u ; t : b i References 1. Inaba H. Super-high sensitivity systems for detection and spectral analysis of ultraweak photon emission from biolog= cal cells and tissues. Experientia 1988: 44: 550-559, Popp FA, Ruth B, Bahr W, et al. Emission of visible and ultraviolet radiation by active biological systems. Coll Phenom 1981: 3: 187-214, 3. Cilento G, Chwirot WB, Galle M, et al. Biophoton emission (multi-author review). Experientia 1988: 44: 543-600, Popp FA, Gu Q, Li KH. Biophoton emission: experimental background and theoretical approaches. Mod Phys Lett B 1994: 8: 1269-1296, Popp FA, Li KH, Gu Q, eds. Recent advances in biophoton research and its applications, Singapore, London: World Scientific, 1992 6, Popp FA. Biophotons ~ weak light emission of cells In: Hol- ick ME, Jung EG, eds. Biologic effects of light, 1995, Proceed- ings of a Symposium, Atlanta, Georgia, USA, October 180 Fig. 4. Fourier analysis (spectral densities): a/b/¢) Spectral densities ofthe bio- Photon emission values of a) right han, b) eft hand, from June 8, 1995 t0 March 5, 1996 (271 days) and c) fore- head from August 29, 1995 to March 5, 1996 (190 days) d/e/f) Spectral densities of the delayed tuminescence xalues of d) right hand, e) - Ieft hand over 271 days and 1) forehead over 190 days. 9-11, 1995, Berlin, New York: Walter de Gruyter, 1996: 87— 92, 7, Niggli HJ. Ultraweak photons emitted by cells: biophotons. J Photochem Photobiol B 1992: Biol. 10: 144-146. 8. Swinbanks D. Body light points to health, Nature 1986: 324 208. 9. Deutscher Gebrauchsmusterschutz G 94 17 8153 vom 204.1995, Address: FA. Popp International Institute of Biophysics Biophoton Research Station Hontbroich Vockrather Strapie D-41472 Neuss Germany Tels 02182825131 Fax: 02182-825132

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