The study, led by Professor Kyung Cheol Choi with Professor Yun Chi’s team at HKUST, was published online on January 10, 2026, in Nature Communications.
The treatment method could overcome the limits of traditional hair loss treatments: Heavy and stiff phototherapy helmets may soon be a thing of the past.
A collaborative research team have developed a hat-like, wearable OLED-based phototherapy device and demonstrated that it can reduce hair follicle cell aging by up to 92%, a crucial factor in hair loss progression.
Although drug-based treatments for hair loss are successful, worries about long-term negative effects have prompted interest in safer options such as phototherapy. However, current phototherapy equipment for hair loss is often bulky, helmet-like systems that can only be used indoors.
Furthermore, because they rely on point light sources like LEDs or lasers, it has been challenging to provide uniform light irradiation throughout the scalp.
To overcome these problems, the researchers replaced point light sources with area-emitting OLEDs, which spread light evenly across a large surface. In particular, they incorporated near-infrared (NIR) OLEDs into a soft, fabric-like material that could be worn as a cap. This design allows the light source to organically adhere to the curves of the scalp, providing uniform optical stimulation throughout the whole scalp.
Beyond wearable design, the study focused on inhibiting hair-follicle cell aging, which is a major cause of hair loss progression. The important breakthrough of this study is not only the creation of a wearable device, but also the precise tailoring of the wavelength of light to enhance therapeutic efficacy.
The group expanded wavelength-control methods first created for display OLEDs to therapeutic applications after realizing that cellular responses differ based on light wavelength. To activate dermal papilla cells, which are essential cells at the base of hair follicles that control hair development, scientists created customized OLEDs that preferentially emit near-infrared light in the 730–740 nm range.
Experiments employing human dermal papilla cells (hDPCs) confirmed the efficacy of the developed NIR OLEDs. Analysis of cellular aging revealed that NIR OLED irradiation outperformed traditional red-light irradiation settings, suppressing cell aging by almost 92% when compared to the control group.
Instead of rigid, helmet-type point-light devices, we propose a wearable phototherapy platform that can be used in daily life by implementing soft, textile-based OLEDs in a cap form. A key outcome of this study is demonstrating that precisely engineered light wavelengths can effectively suppress hair-follicle cell aging.
Dr. Eun Hae Cho, Study First Author, Korea Advanced Institute of Science & Technology
Professor Kyung Cheol Choi added, “Because OLEDs are thin and flexible, they can closely conform to the curved surface of the scalp, delivering uniform light stimulation across the entire area. Going forward, we plan to verify safety and efficacy through preclinical studies and progressively evaluate the potential for real therapeutic applications.”
Journal Reference:
Cho, E. H., et.al. (2026) Wearable textile-based phototherapy platform with customized NIR OLEDs toward non-invasive hair loss treatment. Nature Communications. DOI: 10.1038/s41467-025-68258-3.