Pattern baldness treament: LED cap stops hair loss and grow more hair in less time

A clinical trial showed the efficacy of REVIAN RED, an all-LED cap for the treatment of male or female pattern baldness (androgenic alopecia), according to the results announced by technology company PhotonMD. The company received FDA 510(k) clearance for the device in February 2018.

The randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial assessed REVIAN RED for the treatment of androgenic alopecia (or pattern hair loss) as compared to other hair growth devices. It demonstrated the ability of the LED cap to stop hair loss and subsequent growth of new hair.

Androgenetic alopecia is a common form of hair loss. While female pattern hair loss appears as overall thinning or widening of the midline, male pattern hair loss is characterized by a receding hairline or balding of the crown. Topical minoxidil, oral finasteride for men, and low-level laser light therapy (LLLT) are the current FDA approved treatments for the condition.

"It took almost 20 years to work out the ideal wavelengths of light, the best fluence or 'power', how long the treatments should last and how often the treatments need to be repeated. That sort of information requires clinical trials and that is exactly what we have done here," stated Dr. Rodney Sinclair, Principle Investigator, Dermatologist and Professor of Medicine at Melbourne University. "We specifically designed this clinical trial with the rigour of a pharmaceutical trial. We used the same primary and secondary endpoints as were used in finasteride and minoxidil studies. We used placebo caps. Participants and evaluators were blinded and as an outcome, these results can be trusted."

Adult patients with androgenetic alopecia were randomly assigned to a light-based hair growth treatment or placebo cap with no light therapy for 10 minutes per day of use for up to 26 weeks. The participants were asked to refrain from using all other hair growth products or treatment during the study period.

The primary endpoint was mean change in target area hair count between active and sham-treated subjects at week 16. Total hair counts were obtained from computer-assisted scans of digital photographs taken of a defined target area (1 cm²) centred around a tattoo located in the anterior mid area of the scalp.

Also Read: Finasteride use in androgenic alopecia does not cause sexual dysfunction

Key findings:

• Among participants who were at least 80% compliant with the treatment protocol, the 18 participants assigned red light therapy had an average of 21.3 more hairs per cm²compared with baseline and the 18 participants who wore a placebo cap but received no light therapy.


• Those treated with the placebo cap continued to lose hair during the study duration.


• There were no treatment discontinuations due to an adverse event and no device-related serious adverse events.

Also Read: Hair loss and female pattern baldness: Expert's opinion for treatment

"We specifically designed this clinical trial with the rigor of a pharmaceutical trial," Rodney Sinclair, MD, professor of medicine at Melbourne University and principal investigator in the trial, said in the release. "We used the same primary and secondary endpoints as were used in [the] finasteride and minoxidil studies. We used placebo caps. Participants and evaluators were blinded, and as an outcome, these results can be trusted."

Why should Revian be used

The results are impressive and real. REVIAN RED is clinically proven to grow more hair in less time than other hair loss products.