Although the technology is still nascent, it signals the end of defibrillators as we known them today.

Researchers have come to the conclusion that beams of red light could have the same effect as giving shocks to the human heart in order to ensure that it keeps beating.

Scientists have already tested this optical defibrillator on animals and hope to do the same on humans soon.

The research team led by Natalia Trayanova, a biomedical engineering professor from John Hopkins University.

According to her, “light will be given to a patient who is experiencing cardiac arrest, and we will be able to restore the normal functioning of the heart in a gentle and painless manner.”

While defibrillators typically damage heart tissues when they are used on patients, light beams on the other hand provide a much gentler and safer approach towards mitigating a patient’s irregular heartbeat.

The technology revolves around the science of optogenetics, wherein light sensitive proteins attached to living tissues react to light when it comes in contact with the proteins thereby triggering cellular electrical activity.

The technology has been tested by a team of researchers from the German University of Bonn on a mouse’s heart. Its heart cells were genetically modified to produce protein that could be triggered when it comes in contact with light. All it took to trigger the regular pulsing of the mouse’s heart was a 1 second flash of blue light.

The researchers then tried to do the same on the human heart during a simulation and noted that the light used by the German team wasn’t strong enough for the tissues that makes up the human heart. They discovered that using red light of longer wavelengths did the magic, in their simulation.

The technology is still nascent so it will take some time before an optical defibrillators sees the light of day.