A team of physician-innovators at Carle Illinois College of Medicine is working to revolutionize migraine therapy for children with a new side-effect-free, drug-free treatment device. Their solution is a special set of glasses that emits green LED light to alleviate the symptoms of migraines in children who may not find relief from other therapies.
“EmeraldVue is creating a wearable green light therapy device for the pediatric population that reduces the severity and frequency of migraines, enhances the quality of life for patients, and provides a non-pharmacological alternative to existing treatments,” said team leader Dhruv Patel, a fourth-year student at CI MED.
About 5% of children in the U.S. are diagnosed with migraine by age ten, but researchers estimate the condition may be prevalent in around 10% of children. Migraines are often treated with medications, but some of those treatments are not effective in children or have troublesome side effects.
Green light lamps have been used to reduce chronic and post-surgical pain without medications. EmeraldVue builds on this work by delivering active green light therapy through a wearable device that is both affordable and easy to use by young patients.
“This device will emit a narrow band of green light, targeting retinal and thalamic pathways to alleviate headache pain and reduce its frequency, ultimately enhancing the daily functioning of millions of migraine sufferers,” Patel said.
The team’s initial prototype has successfully integrated key components including a 3D-printed frame, two coin-cell batteries, green LEDs, and a push-button switch. Patel says as the team works toward future clinical trials, their work has the potential to uncover deeper insights into how migraines develop and how narrow bands of light help reduce pain.
The EmeraldVue team is competing in the 2025 Cozad New Venture Challenge to win funding for their product development process. The project was launched by Patel in partnership with CI MED students Hyunji Koo and Maharshi Pandya. Patel will specialize in neurology during residency at Zucker School of Medicine-Northwell Mather Hospital in New York starting in July. Koo will specialize in anesthesiology at Lahey Clinic in Massachusetts, and Pandya will specialize in diagnostic radiology, first at St. Luke's Hospital in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, and then at University of North Carolina Hospitals.
The EmeraldVue team worked with a cross-disciplinary team including: University of Illinois-Chicago undergraduate Engineering students Nevaeh Espinoza, Stephan Cevallos, Fernando Garcia, Indira Kondapally, Tanay Saxena, and Clay Weaver; Gies College of Business MBA candidate Amanda Fadden; and CI MED Professors Michael Oelze, Ravi Mehta, and Dr. Karen White; and UI-Chicago Professor Michael Browne.