Apparatus and method for treating rheumatoid and psoriatic arthritis

Claim 1

A method of treating an inflamed joint of a patient having rheumatoid or psoriatic arthritis, comprising the steps of: providing a source of noncoherent radiation having an output wavelength between 640 and 800 nm and an incident power of 40 to 200 mW/cm 2 ; and irradiating an epidermal surface transversely to transilluminate the inflamed joint with the radiation for a time sufficient to reduce the inflammation of the joint, the time generally in the range of 10 to 20 minutes.

Claim 2

A method of treating an inflamed joint of a patient having rheumatoid or psoriatic arthritis, comprising the steps of: providing a source of noncoherent radiation having an output wavelength between 640 and 800 nm and an incident power of 40 to 200 mW/cm 2 ; and irradiating an epidermal surface transversely to transilluminate the inflamed joint with the radiation for a time sufficient to reduce the inflammation of the joint, the time generally in the range of 10 to 20 minutes.

Claim 4

A method of treating an inflamed joint of a patient having rheumatoid or psoriatic arthritis, comprising the steps of: providing a source of radiation and optical means that produces first a converging, then a diverging, beam with a predetermined bandwidth that includes a wavelength range of 640 to 800 nm; filtering all wavelengths in the convergent, then divergent, beam that lie outside the wavelength range; directing the filtered beam at an epidermal surface transverse to the inflamed joint; and reducing the joint inflammation by irradiating the inflamed joint with the filtered beam with an incident power of 40 to 200 mW/cm 2 to reduce the inflammation, the irradiation presenting the epidermal surface with a total incident energy.

Claim 5

A method of treating an inflamed joint of a patient having rheumatoid or psoriatic arthritis, comprising the steps of: providing a source of radiation and optical means that produces first a converging, then a diverging, beam with a predetermined bandwidth that includes a wavelength range of 640 to 800 nm; filtering all wavelengths in the convergent, then divergent, beam that lie outside the wavelength range; directing the filtered beam at an epidermal surface transverse to the inflamed joint; and reducing the joint inflammation by irradiating the inflamed joint with the filtered beam with an incident power of 40 to 200 mW/cm 2 to reduce the inflammation, the irradiation presenting the epidermal surface with a total incident energy.

Claim 7

A method of treating rheumatoid and psoriatic arthritic inflammation in the body of a subject, the method comprising the steps of: providing a radiation source that produces first a converging, then a diverging beam with wavelengths having a bandwidth in the range of 640 to 800 nanometers; converging the beam; filtering all wavelengths outside the wavelength bandwidth while the beam is converging then diverging; directing the filtered radiation at the epidermis of the subject adjacent the arthritic inflammation; and reducing the arthritic inflammation by maintaining the radiation output at an incident power on the order of between about 40 to 200 milliwatts per square centimeter for a time sufficient to provide an effective treatment but not to exceed 150 joules per square centimeter when the output of the radiation source transilluminates the affected soft tissues.

Claim 8

A method of treating rheumatoid and psoriatic arthritic inflammation in the body of a subject, the method comprising the steps of: providing a radiation source that produces first a converging, then a diverging beam with wavelengths having a bandwidth in the range of 640 to 800 nanometers; converging the beam; filtering all wavelengths outside the wavelength bandwidth while the beam is converging then diverging; directing the filtered radiation at the epidermis of the subject adjacent the arthritic inflammation; and reducing the arthritic inflammation by maintaining the radiation output at an incident power on the order of between about 40 to 200 milliwatts per square centimeter for a time sufficient to provide an effective treatment but not to exceed 150 joules per square centimeter when the output of the radiation source transilluminates the affected soft tissues.