Red light therapy isn't a wellness fad — it's over a century of published research, from a Nobel Prize to NASA laboratories to modern clinical trials. Here's exactly how it works, and what the science actually says.
The Mechanism
It's not magic, and it's not heat. It's photochemistry — particles of light triggering your cells' own repair systems. In four steps:
Precise 635nm & 810nm photons pass into skin and deep tissue — no UV, no burning, no damage.
Cytochrome c oxidase — the enzyme at the heart of your cellular power plants — soaks up the light.
Nitric oxide is released, oxygen flows, and ATP — your body's energy currency — ramps up.
Repair signaling switches on: anti-inflammatory response, antioxidant defenses, collagen & cell renewal.
The result: tissue that heals faster, inflammation that calms, and energy restored — using only light.
Clinical Wavelengths
Different wavelengths of light travel to different depths. That's why our MedWave systems use both — one for the surface, one for the deep.
Surface specialist · up to ~10mm
Readily absorbed at the skin — where the glow happens.
Deep tissue specialist · 30–40mm+
The workhorse wavelength for deep repair.
Penetration measured in fresh human tissue — independent study, Medical University of Vienna (2025). Read it on our Research page →
Photobiomodulation has been studied, refined and validated for over 120 years — long before it became a wellness buzzword.
Niels Finsen wins the Nobel Prize in Medicine for treating disease with light — phototherapy's founding moment.
Endre Mester discovers low-power red laser light accelerates healing — modern photobiomodulation is born.
NASA research finds LED red & near-infrared light stimulates tissue growth and wound healing — even in space.
Clinical trials, meta-analyses and university studies confirm what the pioneers suspected — including ours, measured in Vienna.
What the Studies Show
We don't ask you to take our word for anything. Here's what peer-reviewed research and documented outcomes actually report — with the sources to prove it.
NSCA Coach (2024), reviewing Ferraresi et al. 2011 · Foley et al. 2016 · Zhao et al. 2012
Ji et al., Frontiers in Psychiatry (2024)
Shared as research context — not a treatment for mental-health conditions.
Abijo et al., Biomedicines (2023)
An active area of science — we follow it closely and honestly.
MedWave clinical case documentation — see the gallery →
In December 2024, MedWave's Contour 100S and Neuro 100S — the same systems we use every day — were tested at the Medical University of Vienna. Researchers implanted calibrated sensors inside a fresh human body donor and measured precisely how far our light travels.
STUDY REPORT WV 01-2025 · WAVEVISION GMBH · MEDICAL UNIVERSITY OF VIENNA
"Our promise: no hype, just evidence."
Every claim on this website traces back to published research or documented results — and we publish the sources themselves.
Browse the DocumentsScience got your attention? The best evidence is personal. Book a session and feel what the research has been saying for decades.
