Potential of luminescent materials in phototherapy

Phototherapy is the use of light in the treatment of skin diseases that show improvement upon exposure to natural sunlight or man-made lamps. Artificial phototherapy treatments like Narrow band UVB (NB-UVB) phototherapy, Photochemotherapy by UVA (PUVA) and Targeted phototherapy are safe and widely used for several skin diseases like psoriasis, vitiligo, acne vulgaris, mycosis fungoides etc. Photodynamic therapy (PDT), a specialized phototherapy involves use of efficient photo sensitizers and optical radiations for the treatment of cancer and various other medical maladies. Efficacy of these treatments depends on proper selection of a phototherapy lamp which is decided by the wavelength of light emitted by the luminescent material present in it. These luminescent materials on account of their unique luminescence features of portability, power efficiency, lesser heat generation and durability find widespread application in bioassay and therapy. Here, we have discussed about the potential of various luminescent materials for phototherapy on the basis of their photoluminescence behaviour and also tabulated their application for various dermatoses. A few more luminescent materials are discussed in view of current developments in phototherapy and bioscience.