Bart Wolbers
Bart Wolbers
- 20 min read

The Top 8 Health Optimisation Summit 2024 Light Therapy Lessons: Products, Ideas, And More!

My biggest takeaways on the ever evolving red light therapy space - from the amazing Health Optimisation Summit 2024!

The Top 8 Health Optimisation Summit 2024 Light Therapy Lessons: Products, Ideas, And More!
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Introduction

I just got back to London. A few days ago - June 15 and 16 - I attened the Health Optimisation Summit (HOS) 2024. There, the biggest names in biohacking join to talk about their newest findings. You'll also find tons and tons of new products. In fact, I've discovered many interesting new ideas and gadgets over the years at these conferences.

(The first time I attended was in 2019 - with Alex Fergus as well!)

HOS has grown big over the years! The event hall was packed, almost not leaving any room for more exhibitors next year. But as you know, we're covering all things light therapy.

And, there were some pretty exciting developments regarding light therapy at the HOS 2024. Here are my most important takeaways:

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Note: I may slightly edit this blog post later on, adding some research when people email me about information that they were going to send after talking on the event. I wanted to send out this blog post as quickly as possible after the event, however, and hence, I may still make small updates to all that's listed below!

1) Improve Healthspan By Preventing The 4 Leading Non-Accidental Causes Of Death With James Carroll Of Thor Photomedicine

James Carroll was with us this year again and talked about the 4 non-accidental leading causes of death and photobiomodulation. "Photobiomodulation" is the scientific term for "red light therapy".

Here are the four leading non-accidental causes of death:

  • Heart disease
  • Cancer
  • Neurodegenerative disease
  • Diabetes and metabolic disorders, such as metabolic syndrome.

I don't have access to the slides of James so I'm going to reconstruct the argument as good as possible.

So I'm sorry if my account is slightly different from James'. Essentially, these diseases have overtaken communicable diseases such as viral and bacterial infections over time (1; 2).

And by countering these four non-accidental causes of death, you extend your health span. Or, in other words, you'll live longer in better health.

Fortunately, there's tons of evidence that red light therapy counters many of the factors underlying these non-accidental causes of death. One aspect here is lowering inflammation and oxidative stress (3; 4; 5; 6; 7). Inflammation and oxidative stress are lowered, and energy-production improves.

Oxidative stress plays a major role in all of these three of the diseases, and likely cancer also (8; 9).

Sleep quality is another huge factor. I've written about this topic extensively in my blogs on red light therapy to boost sleep quality and red light therapy to counter sleep disorders.

Four different studies show how red light therapy affects sleep quality positively. Examples here are a huge roughly 60% increase in melatonin levels (10). Sleep quality improves in that you're getting more deep sleep (11). Mood and well-being improve, while drowsiness decreases (12).

And, one landmark study using the NovoTHOR red light therapy bed showed that athletes could perform better with less sleep (13). Study participants decreased their sleep needs by 40 minutes. We know that this treatment is effective, because resting heart rate and heart rate variability (the variability between heart beats - higher levels denote more relaxation), both improve.

Next, there's the exercise recovery factor. If you're interested in learning more, Alex Fergus has made a video about using red light therapy before or after a workout. Simply put, red light therapy boosts exercise recovery and therefore performance. As a result, you can increase your VO2 max - a test for the oxygen uptake at the cellular level (14).

Better recovery, in turn, allows you to train more often. And training more often will give better gains in health outcomes such as VO2 max. VO2 max, in turn, improves your health span (15).

And from a broader perspective, exercise is extremely helpful in countering the four non-accidental causes of disease. Contrary to the common misconception, exercise is a very important factor in preventing several types of cancers (16; 17; 18). Cancer treatment is also more succesful if you're in good shape.

Next up, exercise is also highly protective against neurodegenerative diseases (19; 20; 21). And I probably won't need to make the case that exercise counters metabolic problems and heart and blood vessel disease.

So overall, by boosting exercise recovery, red light therapy can be a game-changer for preventing the main non-accidental causes of death. James Carroll discussed many other mechanisms in his presentation as well. We'll post a new interview Alex did with James Carroll on this topic on his YouTube channel soon!

Also, if you're curious about an earlier interview Alex did with James Carroll - on the basics of photobiomodulation - check below:

Also, if you're interested in the Thor products that are mainly aimed at the medical industry, not consumers, check:

2) High-Powered Spot Treatment Evolves With The Flexbeam

So the company Recharge Health has offered the Flexbeam on the market for quite some time. Both Alex and I hadn't seen this device before, but we're getting regular questions about this product in our red light therapy Facebook group.

Here you can see the Flexbeam:

As you can see, the Flexbeam has quite large fans on the red light therapy lights. Those fans ensure that the power output can be sufficiently high.

On the website, Flexbeam notes a power output of 110 mW/cm2, which is quite high. Personall though, we were told a number of 150 mW/cm2. Those numbers are only exceeded by the Chroma Ironforge, as far as I know.

Alex interviewed the CEO and co-founder Bjørn Ekeberg of Recharge Health and will upload an interview on YouTube in the near future. I was present during that interview. During that interview, Bjørn Ekeberg stated that you're not just getting the Flexbeam but a far more encompassing system for using the product for many different goals, such as countering health conditions.

Flexbeam talk about that membership option on their website. Here, the personal experience of members using the Flexbeam, as well as the scientific validation of using the Flexbeam for many different goals, is a true value add.

We know this is an extremely important topic because we're getting so many questions about dosing and treatment in our Facebook group.

One of the topics discussed during the interview with Bjørn Ekeberg was that many other competing products have a hard time competing for the correct dose if there's no fans on the product. So, spot treatment products will have a far lower power output that limit penetration.

I personally can't wait for Alex to test the Flexbeam on our YouTube channel in the near future!

What I like about the Flexbeam is that it's completely unique and built from the bottom up. So it's not a copycat product that looks like all the others on the market. The Flexbeam was specifically designed and engineered with the end goal in mind, and, is thus different from the red light therapy panels that originated as altered grow lights, originally!

3) Red Light Rising Is Upgrading Their Red Light Therapy Panels - Showing How All Of The Industry Evolves

So, I've extensively talked to the founders of Red Light Rising (code ALEX saves), Bryan Gohl and James Strong. The wonderful gentlemen are expanding their bussiness to the EU and told me that they either have a warehouse in that area soon or already.

The EU warehouse is a big plus for Red Light Rising as they're currently based in the UK. Because of Brexit, cheap shipping to the EU has become much harder - hence the EU warehouse will give you another great option if you're living there, without high shipping costs and import taxes!

So here's more news from Red Light Rising, besides the EU warehouse:

  • Red Light Rising have developed new panels that have many of the new features.
  • The budget range of Red Light Rising, the Half Stack and Full Stack, are upgraded to their 3.0 version - with four wavelengths, now, 630 nm, 660 nm, 810 nm, and 850 nm. The advertized power output is 63.93mw/cm², measured with a spectrometer.
  • The Red Light Rising premium range, the Advantage series, is also upgraded with five wavelengths (again, code ALEX saves). An LCD screen has also been added, as well as the smart modes that were first introduced by Rojo. The wavelengths are 630 nm, 660 nm, 810 nm, 830 nm, and 850 nm, and lean towards a predominance on the 660 nm and 850 nm. What's super exicting here is that the Advantage 900 is extremely powerful, with an advertized 77.6mw/cm² measured with a spectrometer. I can't wait for Alex to test one of these panels, as it would be among the most powerful on the market. Here you can see Red Light Rising's flagship product:
  • Alex also interviewed Bryan. Another topic that we've discussed with Bryan was that of customer service. Red Light Rising is still focusing very heavily on customer service. The unique value add of their company is that if you message them, such as on the website chat, you're directly talking to the owner of the company. There, many people ask questions such as about how to use red light therapy in their unique health situation.
  • In the interview with Alex, Bryan also talks about power output. Here we discussed the topic of overdosing. Bryan - just like I do - has very good results with using high power output panels close to the skin. I do the same - I use my old PlatinumLED BioMax 900 from 2019 directly against the skin for a few minutes per area. Bryan talked about standing an inch away from the Red Light Rising Advantage panel.
  • Bryan has developed a simple protocol for dosing himself. Bryan's approach is to stand as close to the panel as you can, once you're accustomed to higher intensities, without projecting light at the head. For the head and face, Bryan recommends standing farther away from the panel.
  • Bryan recommends exposing the eyes to red light therapy as well for a few minutes, making sure the stimulus is never uncomfortable. If you get uncomfortable you'll have to stand further away to reduce the dose. If you're interested about learning more, read my extremely extensive article about red light therapy for eye health.
  • Bryan notes that many people have life-changing effects from their
  • If you want more updates about the interview, as well as other topics discussed, then subscribe to our YouTube channel and see the interview with Bryan Gohl when it appears!
  • So what's the takeaway from the changes that Red Light Rising have made? Nowadays, it's much harder to compete if you're just offering 660 nm and 850 nm panels, with simple switches. Customers demand more and more features on their red light therapy products. Of course, me and especially Alex are responsible for that trend. But, consumer choice and competition are also good, forcing companies to offer more value and better products, which should help people achieve better health over time.

Next up:

4) Kineon Move+ Pro Launch Was Extremely Successful - And Exciting New Products Are Coming!

We've had an amazing time with the Kineon team at the Health Optimisation Summit 2024! And, the good news is that Kineon is doing extremely well and have many reviews of people finding life-changing results with their Move+ Pro.

If you're interested, you can read Alex's review of the Kineon Move+ Pro here (discount code AFERGUSMOVE+ saves!):

We've also interviewed Forrest Smith, the CEO of and co-founder Kineon, and Thomas Sanderson, COO and co-founder. Forrest and Thomas actually never met before and were now spending their first weeks together - after building a company online for a few years! Forrest lives in Mexico and Thomas in Malaysia, so the chances of running into each other in the supermarket are almost infinetely low there.

Alex also interviewed with Forrest Smith, that will be uploaded to our YouTube channel soon. Subscribe to learn the full details. Here are some of the highlights of the interview though:

  • Kineon is launching a few new products. These are a red light therapy product for gut health, the Heal+, and a vagus nerve stimulator.
  • The Heal+ mainly uses near-infrared, for optimal penetration. Not only is the aim to improve the gut microbiome, but many gut conditions are likely also affected, such as inflammatory bowel disease, irritable bowel syndrome, Chron's disease, and others. There's recent evidence that red light therapy for gut health has very promising effects (22; 23; 24; 25). More high-quality human research is needed though! Here's what a recent case study (with 1 participants, treated with 905 nm light to the gut) notes about this dynamic:
"The microbiome of the participant showed significant changes in diversity after PBM treatment, but not after cancer therapy, with an increase in the number of known beneficial bacteria (Akkermansia, Faecalibacterium, and Roseburia) and decrease in the number of potentially pathogenic genera. " (24)

And, more broadly, a review recently investigated the extremely fascinating gut microbiome improvements. The quote is long but worth reading:

"[Red light therapy] was shown to reduce inflammation in the gut, which may contribute to its positive effects on gut microbiota. This reduction in inflammation may be due to the ability of [red light therapy] to reduce oxidative stress and increase antioxidant capacity (55, 56). [Red light therapy] was found to increase the level of Vitamin D, which can affect the composition of the gut microbiota (57, 58). It was shown that diurnal oscillations and light stress could influence the composition and activities of mouse microbiome (59-61). Bicknell et al. used the [red light therapy (Near-Infrared] light; 808 nm) to the abdomen three times a week for 12 weeks for altering microbiome diversity in healthy mice and showed an increase in the number of Allobaculum (10,000-fold), which is a bacterium related to the healthy microbiome (8). Continuous dark or light exposure in mice was also shown by Kim et al. to change the makeup of the microbiota; continuous light exposure resulted in an increase in Bacteroidales S24-7 (26), whereas continuous dark exposure was accompanied with a rise in Bacteroidales and Rikenellaceae. Thus, studies investigated the effect of light stress on the number and species of epithelial-associated commensal bacteria in murine, and showed ten-fold abundance in the dark phase (5). Furthermore, seasonal variations in microbiome composition due to the alteration in sunlight/UVB light have also been reported (60). The protective effect of UVB against inflammatory diseases, such as IBD, to which changes in gut microbiota are associated, was proven (61)." (26)
  • So it's not just the red and near infrared light that are helpful, but ultraviolet B (UVB) as well. Alex just published an interview in which he talks about the role of UVB lamps for vitamin D specifically and health in general.
  • We'll be looking forward to the Kineon Heal+ in the near future, when this launches on Indiegogo (like the Move+ did succesfully earlier!)
  • I've learned that Kineon are doing lots of in-house testing of their Heal+ as well.
  • Secondly, there's an upcoming Kineon Calm+. The Calm+ is a vagus nerve stimulator, that's revolutionary in that the electricity stimulates the nerve more than the muscle. I've heard about some of the in-house testing of the Calm+, and it seems to have life-changing results for people with insomnia. People have changed their sleep onset from 2 hours to 5 minutes, in some cases here. Why? Well, in insomnia, there's often an autonomic nervous system imbalance, in that people are overly stressed and have a persistent "fight, flight, and freeze" response (27; 28; 29). We've reviewed other products in the past, such as the Neuvana Xen and the Sensate on Alex Fergus' website. The Calm+ should have far less of a galvanic response, according to Forrest Smith, so that the effectiveness is higher and potential side effects such as stimulating the skin or muscle is inhibited. Apparantly, the Calm+ increases the Heart Rate Variability (HRV - a measurement of relaxation) also by a whopping 20%. A future version of the Calm+ also has sensors, for biofeedback. I can't go into this product too much here as this is a light therapy website, but the implications are nonetheless interesting as the product can be used in conjunction with red light therapy.
  • Thirdly, Kineon are coming up with a female-only product. That domain is called "fem tech". The aim here are the reproductive organs. Why? Well, it's simple: red ligh therapy affects the vaginal microbiome (30). Red light therapy also improves genitourinary syndrome of menopause (GSM) characterized by dryness and atrophy of some tissues (31). Also, fertility massively improves, with 21% of women who are able to conceive after being considered "severely infertile" (32). The treatment is side-effect-free. Pelvic floor muscles may also be strengthened, as well as other benefits (33; 34; 35). I'm very much looking forward to Kineon's fem tech product!
  • (Chroma already offer a fem tech product, the Chroma Purple Wand (code ALEX saves), that is, to state it politically correctly, inserted into the female reproductive organs while emitting violet, red, and near-infrared light.
  • Kineon's science team is testing with new parameters for measuring the outcomes of red light therapy interventions. One test is the "occlusion and reperfusion" (36; 37; 38). With occlusion and reperfusion, you're testing the body's ability to regain blood flow after a reduction of blood flow. Kineon's Forrest Smith tells me that this test will be extremely helpful for quantification related to heart and blood vessel health. I've learned that Forrest and the Kineon science team use this testing for their science-based approach to developing unique products.
  • Once more, Alex has interviewed Forrest Smith. And, once more, the interview will be uploaded to our YouTube channel in the near future!
  • I had an amazing time with many of the Kineon team, such as Forrest, Thomas, Ivan, Bex, and others! I hope to see you again at the Health Optimisation Summit 2025!
  • Overall, I really look forward to the exciting upcoming products of Kineon!

5) I Tried Weber Medical's IV Treatment And Something Crazy Happened!

So here's something interesting! I've discussed Weber Medical in my Biohacker Summit 2023 Amsterdam review. The most unique product of Weber Medical is their flagship Weber EndoLight®, that you can see here:

That EndoLight® provides different types of visible light and near-infrared to the bloodstream, by irradiating the blood vessels around the wrist. If you're curious about the EndoLight®, check Alex's preview of the product here:

Alex Fergus will review the product in the near future. You can grab an EndoLight® and use discount code ALEX to save.

But there's an even more exciting development. During the conference, I tried the Weber Medical intravenous laser:

That laser provides light therapy directly into the bloodstream. In science, that's called "intravenous photobiomodulation". So, you completely bypass the skin through that process. A very nice nurse attached the laser to my lower arm:

And more detail - thanks for the pictures Lisa:

And, finally, the full overview:

(Woops, seems like I need to lose some weight after bulking up a bit for weight training since I've been back in Holland in April)

But I digress.

So here's what happened! I got the treatment with the green light therapy for 5 minutes. I subsequently received blue light therapy for 5 minutes. But I don't know whether it's placebo or not, but the intravenous light therapy had a very strong effect on me!

I felt amped up like I just had 5 shots of double espresso. And I got very sweaty, especially on the forehead. So I asked the wonderful nurse to quit my session (otherwise I'd have received red light intravenously as well). Then, 5-10 minutes after the session or so I felt fine again. I hadn't expected this response, honestly, because I'm used to very high power outputs directly on the skin from my red light therapy.

So Alex asked me why you'd use light therapy intravenously, if you could just shine it on the skin and get the results as well. I don't have a simple answer here and would have to look into the literature. Weber did tell Lisa however - our new colleague - that people would have extremely good results with spot healing, when a treatment is administered over time.

And the science on intravenous light therapy? Here's the outcome of a recent study on recovery after a coronary bypass surgery with a graft (47):

The PBM group also showed significantly lower post-surgery complications, including pericardial effusion, ejection fraction, pathologic ST changes, pathologic Q, rehospitalization, heart failure, and mediastinitis (P < 0.05). Likewise, the [Visual Analogue Scale] pain score after surgery was significantly lower in patients in the laser group (P < 0.05). PBM seems a promising, safe, cost-benefit therapeutic modality to reduce postoperative complications of [Coronary Bypass Bypass Surgery for a graft]. 

So both function and pain levels improved significantly with the lasers applied to the bloodstream directly here.

Then there's a case study where sleep quality was improved (48). Another case study for artery disease showed improvements as well (49). Then there's a study with intravenous light stimulation after brain injury that has a positive outcome (50). Then there's a blue intravenous laser that helps against viral infections (51).

Hopefully Alex can interview one of the people of Weber Medical to learn more about the effects of intravenous red light therapy versus its regular use. Or, I could do a deep dive on the topic soon, as I'd like to know!

Why I got the weird response to the Weber Laser I still don't know. I'd love to try it again in the future though, the red light in particular! I've followed my own advice that I've given in the light therapy Facebook group often, and quit the treatment if not getting the response I want!

6) Honorable Mention: Enjoy The Outdoors With The Daylight Computer Game-Changer!

Even though this blog about light therapy, I still want to mention the product here that's likely a complete game-changer:

Enter the "Daylight Computer". The Daylight Computer can be used outdoor in the sun and because of the highly reflective materials, you will be able to see the computer despite direct sunlight:

The Daylight Computer currently supports Android and all apps from the Google Store.

For me, the Daylight Computer is a complete game-changer because we've now got an option to get your daily sunlight exposure, and yet, still be productive. An external keyboard can be attached to the Daylight Computer.

The daylight computer is supposed to look like paper outdoors. The product also has a nighttime mode with amber backlighting. I'm very curious about testing this product in the future and it would be a great solution for me as I could get several hours with a computer this way in the morning sunlight - either during my summers in Europe or the rest of the year in Latin America. I've also tried the Daytime Computer and it worked really smoothly.

Regular computers will overheat in sunlight. And, the screen of regular computers becomes completely invisible at a higher lux level. For a long time I've searched for different solutions to that problem, such as computers that are used at oil rigs or mining, but even these are better to use in the shade and not direct sunlight.

Overall, the Daylight Computer has the ability to change the world! Many humans on this planet would be far better off if they could work a few hours per day in sunlight, instead of being indoors all the time. And digital nomads like me are all too happy with the development!

7) Combining PEMF And Red Light Therapy With Celler8

We're getting tons of questions about combining red light therapy and Pulsed Electro-Magnetic Fields (PEMF). So I saw a company that combines both of them - Celler8:

So you can treat one side of the body with the full-body PEMF mat, and the other side with red light. Then you turn around and treat your other side. Of course, at the conference, it's not possible to get naked and get the complete treatment. But normally you'd have to remove your clothes - unlike what is shown in the picture - as the light doesn't penetrate through the clothes.

The PEMF is very legit though. Quite a few good review studies have come out on the topic - which analyze and integrate previous research (39; 40; 41; 42; 43; 44; 45; 46). PEMF can be used in trauma treatment, for instance, counters lower back pain, helps with osteoarthritis, helps the healing of bone fractures, helps you deal with inflammation and makes your immune system healthier, and more.

I know from people with tons of clinical experience that PEMF is hit or miss, often. And, especially in case of chronic pain, PEMF can be a game-changer. As it's relatively affordable as well and generally side-effect free with normal use, I highly recommend it for people who have pain. Some companies even allow you to try their product and send it back if it doesn't work (often with restocking fee).

I know this is a light therapy blog, but seeing so many people combine PEMF and red light therapy - and companies doing so as well - I decided to include it here. I'll have to test the combination though, in the future!

The red light therapy panels of Celler8 have just come on the market. The prices of these panels are more or less mid-tier. The PEMF-red light therapy combination ships July-August 2024! It's cool to see the pairing of red light therapy with other technologies!

8) Companies Are Going BIG On Red Light Therapy: Cerathrive, Lyma, And More

Finally, a few honorable mentions of companies. Often, here, there's not enough information to warrant an own unique section:

  • The Cera System, by Cera Thrive, will start shipping soon. I talked to the owner of the company, Sarah Turner, and she's got a deadline now for the end of June. There were some supply chain issues for electronic components that caused the delay in the Cera System, but these should be solved. The Cera System arguably is the first brain-gut axis product on the market. If you're curious, check out Alex's extensive interview with Sarah Turner, and the update of October 2023. You can see the Cera System below:
  • If you're interested, you can grab a Cera System on the website - again, shipping is planned June 2024!
  • Next up, there's a localized laser by Lyma medical-grade laser. Alex didn't have his spectrometer with him as otherwise we could have done some testing. The Lyma laser is quite pricey, coming in at under $3K USD, so testing is extremely appropriate here before we can recommend it or say anything meaningful. The PRO version even costs above $5K USD. There are some extremely big claims on the website, such as:
  • Well, we'll have to see whether this product is really 700X the power of the competition. I'm skeptical!
  • Lastly, there was another red light therapy company offering different panels. There's not much to say here - mostly the product offering looked similar to what was already on the market, such as panels, masks, handheld red light therapy devices, and more.
  • The examples are just one of the hundreds if not thousands of new products that have appeared in the last few years. I'll keep following this trend and am curious where we'll end up 5 years from now, in 2029! Because HOS 2019 feels like yesterday, almost...

Conclusion: Welcome To The Future Of Light Therapy!

I want to thank everyone I met during the weekend for the great time and hospitality. Something magic happens when 1,000s of biohackers are all in the same venue and share their dreams.

It's also great to see how much the light therapy industry evolves. In the past, I've sometimes struggled to come up with enough new ideas that I've learned about at such a conference. But now, I can fill a long blog post with the newest lessons about light therapy alone!

The light therapy industry is growing and evolving at a very rapid pace. I'm blessed to be part of that and to observe these developments over time. And not only are there tons of new products on the market, the amount of research is also growing exponentially.

Talking about research:

Also, hopefully, I'll see many of you at PBM 2024. The speaker lineup of PBM2024 is absolutely massive. We'll bring you tons of new interviews and new content, based on that conference!

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This is a post by Bart Wolbers of Lighttherapyinsiders. Bart finished degrees in Physical Therapy (B), Philosophy (BA and MA), Philosophy of Science and Technology (MS - with distinction), and Clinical Health Science (MS), has had training in functional medicine, and is currently chief science writer.

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