Light could be used to treat viral infections in the respiratory tract, such as the common cold, a clinical trial by a local research team showed.

A Jeonbuk National University research team led by Jeong Hwan-jeong, a professor at the Department of Nuclear Medicine, and Otorhinolaryngology professor Hong Yong-tae, conducted a clinical trial on treating the common cold with a laser device from March to September.

Under the trial, the team's laser device, named "Bye-Vi," was used on 20 patients suffering from cold symptoms. The device, approved by the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety, comprises of one component that is worn on the nose like a mask and another inserted in the mouth.

The device aimed visible rays in specific wavelengths to the pharyngolarynx in the back of the throat through the mouth and nose, three times a day for three days. Some patients received the Bye-Vi treatment, while the control group received placebo treatment.

Among patients who received the Bye-Vi treatment, 88 percent of them recovered within four days, while the control group only saw a 37 percent recovery rate.

Hong, who directed the clinical trial, stressed that active measures to secure the technology should be conducted, as the United States is also on a similar track.

“Similar trial is ongoing in US, so to protect and utilize domestic technology, we should review the ways to introduce this new technology quickly,” Hong said.

The researchers hope Bye-Vi could also be used to treat COVID-19 and will soon launch a new clinical trial using the device on those infected with COVID-19. Jeong claimed that the device would be a more cost-effective treatment than creating new vaccines or medicine.

“As the concern for twindemic of COVID-19 and winter flu is rising, we are planning to prove the effect of integrated light energy irradiator as a medical device to cope with diverse disease other than the common cold. We expect Bye-Vi to change the current pandemic countermeasure system, which is to create vaccine and medicine for each variants as it appears,” said Jeong.