We last wrote about light therapy in February 2022 when we covered Bright Health’s red light therapy foot health device for foot pain. The Bright Health device resembles a body weight scale with 124 medical-grade invisible infrared and visible red light LEDs on the surface. Novalogy, inc., with offices in Walnut, California and Sofia, Bulgaria, is a health and wellness company that focuses on applications that use light to improve circadian rhythms. Novalogy’s first product is AYO, an eyeglass wearable. Together with the AYO Circadian Health app, the AYO helps users improve their sleep and align their brains and bodies for better health, according to a company news release.
The AYO app includes a Health and Wellness coaching feature intended to help people understand their personal circadian rhythm based on user input. Users then wear the AYO device for 15 to 20 minutes a day. During each session, the AYO projects blue light from just above the wearer’s eyes. The AYO light is glare-free and does not include ultraviolet or infrared light. The theory behind the AYO is that the blue light helps users control circadian rhythms to improve their chronobiological health.
Novalogy reports that the AYO is part of more than ten peer-reviewed studies. Three U.S. Department of Defense studies found bright light therapy a “feasible and acceptable intervention” to help veterans with chronic lower back pain, traumatic brain injury (TBI), and combat-related post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). The Reykjavik University Sleep Institute bought 60 pairs of AYO bright white light (BWL) therapy glasses for sleep research. RU researchers also published a study comparing the effectiveness of BWL versus dim red light (SRL) therapy on depressive symptoms in cancer survivors.
We’re looking forward to reading studies that can hopefully document improved health and satisfaction when people who are not injured use bright light therapy.
