Abstract

The present handbook aims to cover the entire area of medical knowledge known as “photomedicine.” This field is concerned with two broad areas of medicine: (1) diseases caused by light and (2) the therapeutic applications of light known as phototherapy. The latter broad area can be further subdivided into five more-specialized applications of phototherapy: (i) ultra-violet phototherapy, (ii) photodynamic therapy (PDT), (iii) low-level laser (light) therapy, (iv) laser surgery and medicine, and (v) phototherapy for miscellaneous applications.