Researchers at KAIST, in collaboration with the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST) have developed a “cap” with flexible OLED light sources for scalp phototherapy, which in laboratory tests suppressed markers of hair follicle cell aging by up to 92% – this is considered one of the factors in the progression of hair loss.
According to KAIST, the development is a soft textile wearable platform with specially designed OLEDs that emit near-infrared light. The team selected the 730-740 nm range as optimal for activating human dermal papilla cells (hDPCs), which regulate hair growth, and showed that exposure to such OLEDs reduced signs of cellular aging by approximately 92% compared to the control group.
The authors note that their approach is designed to overcome the limitations of traditional phototherapy “helmets”—their bulkiness and the unevenness of point sources (LEDs/lasers). The next step, according to the developers, is to test safety and efficacy in preclinical studies to assess the prospects for real-world application.
The work has been published in Nature Communications.
