The evolution of the PhotonWave is a story of insights and fortuitous meetings. It began in 1985.

With the help of macrobiotics, thanks to Michio Kushi, Rik Vermuyten, I had overcome severe health problems. On my quest to learn more about health, I was attending a seminar in Antwerp and among the presenters was osteopath and international shiatsu teacher Rex Lassalle. He was very excited about a device called the Lumatron being developed by Dr. John Downing, who was an active member of the College of Syntonic Optometry.

(The Lumatron was an improvement of the Syntonizer, developed in the 1930s by optometrist Harry Spitler who confirmed the impressive therapeutic power of ocular stimulation by colored light.)

In 1986 we organised a seminar for Dr. John Downing in Belgium.

He told us in summary how, as non-optometrists, we could use “Syntonic Light therapy” - “Syntonic “meaning: “Bringing Balance” and relevant to the harmonizing of body, brain and emotional states – influencing the autonomic nervous system via the EYES.

It was fascinating!

One of the seminar participants gave me a book, Light Medicine of the Future, by Dr. Jacob Liberman wherein I found the answers to my many questions.

My daughter and I took a flight to Aspen, Colorado to meet the author.

The German doctor who gave me this book was a university colleague of Dr. Dietrich Klinghardt who in 1986 was already working with the Lumatron at his pain clinic in Santa Fe New Mexico, where he gave seminars to German naturopaths.

He arranged for us to meet Dr. Klinghardt in Germany, and that was the beginning of our long-standing friendship and continuing collaboration, spreading the light in not only Germany, Austria and Switzerland, all over Europe, Norway, but also in the UK and the US.

Throughout the ensuing seven years we imported Lumatrons from the US to Europe at which point, in 1993, the manufacturer made a smaller, portable instrument, the Photron. This we took along on our trips to Germany organised by the Klinghardt Institute in order to promote the highly instructive light therapy focused on psychological issues which Steven Vasquez was teaching. We were fortunate to meet and learn from him.

When the Photron ceased to be available after the death of its manufacturer in 2000, we took it upon ourselves, together with our son Dominique to ensure the continuity of the work of both Downing and the manufacturer for the European medical community. In the same year, we formed a partnership with Dr. John Searfoss, a syntonic optometrist with ideas for using the capabilities offered by Lumatron and Photron but lacking a machine that could be delivered.

But only three months after partnering with Searfoss, the prototype not yet finished, he suddenly passed away.

Dominique and I reviewed everything; what the previous machines had done and had not done, what had been their capabilities, how had the effectiveness been achieved, what needed to be added to augment the reach, how could functions be better integrated to assist the therapist in using Light in their praxis.

Dr. Klinghardt had some suggestions for options he thought should be incorporated.

His input was a great break-through, my greatest respect to him!

Putting it all together we saw the birth of the PhotonWave in 2000, at the conference in Chicago.

In recognition of her contribution to the spread of light therapy in Europe, the ILA awarded the Frances McManemim prize to Leona Vermeire-Van Raemdonck in 2013.

Many years and upgrades later, Katia, our daughter, joined to digitise everything.

Let’s keep spreading the light!

Light and Love, Leona, Christian Vermeire - Van Raemdonck and Katia Vermeire