Here’s a brochure from Philips that I’m sure you’ll find interesting: <CLICK HERE>

A fluorescent lamp or fluorescent tube is a gas-discharge lamp that uses electricity to excite mercury vapor. The excited mercury atoms produce short-wave ultraviolet light that then causes a phosphor to fluoresce, producing visible light. Wikipedia does a much better job of describing fluorescent lights than I ever could. <<Click Here >>

Philips is the sole maker of UVB Narrow Band lamps at this time. Philips lamps with a “/01″ phosphor are the ones you’ll find in the UVB Narrow Band products we sell <<Click Here>>

UVB Narrowband Spectrum

In the graphic to the above, you’ll see two graphs, one depicting the UVB Broadband spectrum and the other is the UVB Narrowband spectrum which is a very narrow group of wavelengths centered around 311 nm, sometimes UVB NB or Narrow Band is called UVB311.

UVB NB or UVB Narrow Band has replaced PUVA and UVB Broadband in the majority of phototherapy applications today.

The Dermalight 80 is made here in the USA by National Biological Corporation under licence to Hoenle and of course by Hoenle the developer of the Dermalight 80. The Dermalight 80  is made in two configurations:

• 110V – 60 Hz (USA, Canada, Japan, Ecuador, Brazil)
• 220V – 50 Hz (Europe and many countries around the world)

There are a few countries around the world that have 220 V – 60 Hz power and we’ve found out the hard way that the 220V – 50 Hz units do not work well in these countries, including Korea, Saudi Arabia and one or two others. When I say the hard way, we have shipped 220V 50 Hz power units to 60 Hz countries and we’ve had to replace them with 110V 60 Hz units with a step down transformer.

The converse is not true. The 110V – 60 Hz unit when used with a step down transformer works well in countries with 220V – 50Hz power.

You can read about our recommendations at < Dermalight – International >

If you live in the USA or Canada or any other country using 60 Hz power then I do recomemnd that you purchase a 60 Hz – Dermalight 80 unit that will work in your country. If you’re in Saudi Arabia, Korea, The Philippines or other country using 220V – 60 Hz power then buy one of the USA models with a step-down transformer. I do recommend that you read this page carefully!

See http://www.dermalight80.com/international.htm#Line_Voltage_&_Frequency__

As somone once said! Caveat Emptor

The new Dermalume 2X uses the National Biological Corp CPT or Controlled Prescription Timer to help the doctor and the patient work together for optimal treatment.

It’s interesting to see the sales of our Dermalight 80 drop slightly as our sales of the Dermalume ramp up.

The Dermalume 2X arrives ready for use in a handy briefcase type case allowing the user to easily pack it away between treatments and carry it with them while traveling.

The unit allows the user to treat only affected areas – and use comb to maintain consistent distance from skin or separate hairs for scalp psoriasis treatment.

The clever hinge allows multiple wand positions can be held where you want while the two lamps with the large output window allow for faster treatment. The DermaLume is shipped fully assembled with an optional comb attachment (includes) , goggles, and carrying case.

You can learn more about the Dermalume 2X at our website. Please visit http://www.homephototherapy.com/dermalume2X.htm for more information.

In the late nineties and early in this millennium, the treatment of choice for many was a promising concept developed by Karin U Schallreuter in Germany and England along with a team of researchers at Bradford University in the UK.

She published a paper entitled “Epidermal H2O2 Accumulation Alters Tetrahydrobiopterin (6BH4) Recycling in Vitiligo: Identi®cation of a General Mechanism in Regulation of All 6BH4-Dependent Processes?”

Dr. Schallreuter’s Website < www.vitiligo.eu.com/home_english.htm >

The full paper is available at < Click Here for complete article >

From the paper…

The topical application of this narrow band (311 nm) ultraviolet B (UVB) activated complex yielded four fundamental clinical results:

1. the arrest of an active depigmentation process in 95% of the patients (Schallreuter et al, 1995, 1999);
2. the recovery of epidermal cells from intracellular vacuolation (Schallreuter et al, 1999; Tobin et al, 2000);
3. a successful repigmentation in 60%±65% of all patients treated so far (n > 700); and
4. initiation of repigmentation independent of the duration of the disease (Schallreuter et al, 1995, 1999).

A second paper was published in 2008 entitled…

“From basic research to the bedside: efficacy of topical treatment with pseudocatalase PC-KUS in 71 children with vitiligo.”

From that paper …

AUTHORS: Schallreuter KU, Krüger C, Würfel BA, Panske A, Wood JM.
Department of Biomedical Sciences, University of Bradford, Bradford, UK. K.Schallreuter@Bradford.ac.uk

BACKGROUND: The epidermal accumulation of hydrogen peroxide (H(2)O(2)) has been documented in vitiligo. AIM: To assess the effect on disease cessation and repigmentation of the reduction/removal of H(2)O(2) using low-dose, narrow-band, ultraviolet-B (UV-B)-activated pseudocatalase PC-KUS in 71 children with vitiligo.

METHODS: This uncontrolled and retrospective study included 45 girls and 26 boys (mean age, 10.3 years) who applied topical PC-KUS twice daily to the entire body surface without narrow-band UV-B dose increments. The affected body areas were documented by special photography at the first visit and after 8-12 months. The response was evaluated by two independent physicians as > 75% vs. < 75% total repigmentation of the face/neck, trunk, extremities, and hands/feet. Generalized (n = 61) and segmental (n = 10) vitiligo were evaluated as different entities. The effect of total-body, low-dose, narrow-band UV-B (0.15 mJ/cm(2)) monotherapy once daily without any increments and without application of PC-KUS was tested over 6 months in 10 children with vitiligo vulgaris (mean age, 8.4 years).

RESULTS: One hundred per cent cessation was observed in 70 of the 71 children. More than 75% repigmentation was achieved in 66 of 71 patients on the face/neck, 48 of 61 on the trunk, and 40 of 55 on the extremities; however, repigmentation on the hands/feet was disappointing (five of 53). The response was independent of skin color, age of onset, duration of disease, other demographic features, and previous treatments. *** The follow-up after narrow-band UV-B monotherapy showed no significant repigmentation in all areas. Seven of 10 patients showed progression of their vitiligo.

CONCLUSION: A reduction in epidermal H(2)O(2) using low-dose, narrow-band UV-B-activated pseudocatalase PC-KUS is an effective treatment for childhood vitiligo which can be safely performed at home.

*** UVGuy’s Note: Monotherapy using a dose of .15 mj per day without Pseudocatalase is not typically prescribed as a treatment for Vitiligo so Professor Schallreuter’s comment saying that “The follow-up after narrow-band UV-B monotherapy showed no significant repigmentation in all areas.” is what I would expect. UVB NB dosages / treatment times are considerably higher when used as a stanalone treatment modality.

I’ll begin by saying that the areas of our bodies with few hair follicles such as the hands, feet, knees and elbows are the toughest areas to treat with any form UVB NB. It’s the hair follicles that harbor the last remaining melanocytes and it is the melanocytes that help color our skin.

That being said, the other areas such as the face, neck, torso, arms, legs etc seem to respond well to treatment for perhaps 70% to 80% of people with Vitiligo.

I’m asked often “Should I use sunblock or mask the areas that are not affected by Vitiligo?” There are at least two answers to this question and you should check with your dermatolgist as to what s/he would prefer.

There are a couple of things that can go wrong if you start masking or covering areas that have not depigmented:

1. If you fail to cover an area that you have been covering in the past, there is a very high likelihood/risk of sunburn and
2. although there have been few studies on this, if an area is starting to de-pigment and you expose it to UVB Narrowband during treatment, then perhaps it will never develop.

The choice to cover or not to cover is between you and your dermatologist. Safety is an issue. UVB appears to be safer than PUVA/UVA. I discuss a little of the safety aspect elsewhere in my blog. See http://www.uvbnarrowband.com/?p=117

Author: Scherschun L; Kim JJ; Lim HW
J Am Acad Dermatol 2001 Jun;44(6):999-1003.

BACKGROUND: The treatment of vitiligo remains a challenge.

OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this article is to review our results and experience with narrow-band ultraviolet (UV) B phototherapy for vitiligo.

METHODS: This is a retrospective analysis of our experience and results with patients with vitiligo who were treated with narrow-band UVB between November 1998 and November 1999. Narrow-band UVB phototherapy was given as monotherapy 3 times a week. The starting dose was 280 mJ/cm(2), with 15% dose increments at each subsequent treatment.

RESULTS: Seven patients were able to be evaluated for the purposes of this analysis. Their ages ranged from 19 to 59 years (mean, 37.6 years). Three patients had Fitzpatrick skin phototype IV and V, and 4 had phototypes II and III. Five of the 7 patients achieved more than 75% repigmentation with a mean of 19 treatments; the mean duration of disease was 13 months. The remaining two patients had 50% and 40% repigmentation after 46 and 48 treatments, respectively. Their mean duration of disease was 132 months. Adverse effects were mild erythema and pruritus.

CONCLUSION: This treatment protocol resulted in rapid repigmentation in many patients, including those with skin phototypes IV and V. In accordance with previous studies, this report indicates that narrow-band UVB is a useful and well-tolerated therapy for vitiligo.

Department of Dermatology, Henry Ford Health System, Detroit, MI 48230-2689, USA.
PMID 11369913