Protocol Calculator

Irradiance is the intensity of light energy hitting your skin at any given moment, measured in mW/cm² (milliwatts per square centimetre). Think of it like water pressure from a shower head — a higher number means more light energy is reaching your cells per second. Healux panels deliver up to 219 mW/cm² at the surface, dropping to 160 mW/cm² at 6 inches. The further you stand, the lower the irradiance.

Milliwatts per square centimetre. This is the standard unit used in photobiomodulation research to describe how much light power is landing on each square centimetre of your skin. 1 milliwatt = 1/1000th of a watt. A reading of 160 mW/cm² means 160 milliwatts of light energy is reaching every square centimetre of exposed skin every second.

Dose is the total amount of light energy your body absorbs during a session, measured in J/cm² (joules per square centimetre). It is calculated by multiplying irradiance by time: Dose = Irradiance × Time. If your panel delivers 160 mW/cm² and you use it for 5 minutes (300 seconds), your dose is 160 × 300 ÷ 1000 = 48 J/cm². Research shows different therapeutic goals require different dose ranges — which is exactly what this calculator helps you hit.

Joules per square centimetre. A joule is a unit of energy — 1 joule = 1 watt × 1 second. When researchers talk about therapeutic doses of red light, they express them in J/cm² because it captures both the intensity and the duration of exposure in a single number. Most published photobiomodulation studies target doses between 10 and 120 J/cm² depending on the condition being treated.

Anterior simply means the front of your body — your chest, abdomen, and the front of your legs. For a full-body session with the Max or Elite panel, you face the panel for the first half of your session (anterior), then turn around for the second half (posterior). This ensures even coverage and bilateral dose delivery.

Posterior means the back of your body — your back, glutes, and the back of your legs. For a 10-minute session, you spend 5 minutes facing the panel (anterior) and 5 minutes with your back to it (posterior). The dose shown in the calculator is per side, so your total session delivers that dose twice — once to the front, once to the back.

Red light therapy follows a biphasic dose response — too little produces no effect, but too much can temporarily inhibit the same cellular pathways you are trying to activate. The therapeutic range is the dose window, specific to each goal, where published research consistently shows benefit. The calculator shows whether your current settings land below, within, or above this range so you can adjust accordingly.

Photobiomodulation (PBM) is the clinical term for red and near-infrared light therapy. Photo = light, bio = life, modulation = change. It refers to the use of specific wavelengths of light to trigger biochemical changes in your cells — primarily by stimulating mitochondria to produce more ATP, the molecule your body uses for energy. PBM is the subject of over 6,000 published peer-reviewed studies.