CRC Press - Biomedical Photonics Handbook
Preface
The Biomedical Photonics Handbook is intended to serve as an authoritative reference source for a broad
audience involved in the research, teaching, learning, and practice of medical technologies. Biomedical
photonics is defined as the science that harnesses light and other forms of radiant energy to solve problems
arising in medicine and biology. This research field has recently experienced an explosive growth due to
the noninvasive or minimally invasive nature and cost-effectiveness of photonic modalities in medical
diagnostics and therapy.
The field of biomedical photonics did not emerge as a well-defined, single research discipline like
chemistry, physics, or biology. Its development and growth have been shaped by the convergence of three
scientific and technological revolutions of the 20th century: the quantum theory revolution, the technology
revolution,
and the genomics
revolution.
The quantum theory of atomic phenomena provides a fundamental framework for molecular biology
and genetics because of its unique understanding of electrons, atoms, molecules, and light itself. Out of
this new scientific framework emerged the discovery of the structure of DNA, the molecular nature of
cell machinery, and the genetic cause of diseases, all of which form the basis of molecular medicine. The
formulation of quantum theory not only gave birth to the field of molecular spectroscopy but also led
to the development of a powerful set of photonics tools — lasers, scanning tunneling microscopes, nearfield
nanoprobes — for exploring nature and understanding the cause of disease at the fundamental level.
Advances in technology also played, and continue to play, an essential role in the development of
biomedical photonics. The invention of the laser was an important milestone; the laser is now the light
source most widely used to excite tissues for disease diagnosis as well as to irradiate tumors for tissue
removal in interventional surgery (“optical scalpels”). The microchip is another important technological
development that has significantly accelerated the evolution of biomedical photonics. Although the laser
has provided a new technology for excitation, the miniaturization and mass production of integrated
circuits, sensor devices, and their associated electronic circuitry made possible by the microchip has
radically transformed the ways in which detection and imaging of molecules, tissues, and organs can be
performed in vivo and ex vivo.
Recently, nanotechnology, which involves research on materials and species at length scales between
1 to 100 nm, has been revolutionizing important areas in biomedical photonics, especially diagnostics
and therapy at the molecular and cellular levels. The combination of photonics and nanotechnology has
already led to a new generation of devices for probing the cell machinery and elucidating intimate life
processes occurring at the molecular level heretofore invisible to human inquiry. This will open the
possibility of detecting and manipulating atoms and molecules using nanodevices, which have the
potential for a wide variety of medical uses at the cellular level. The marriage of electronics, biomaterials,
and photonics is expected to revolutionize many areas of medicine in the 21st century.
Download
http://s18.alxa.net/s18/srvs2/02/003...s.Handbook.rar
Preface
The Biomedical Photonics Handbook is intended to serve as an authoritative reference source for a broad
audience involved in the research, teaching, learning, and practice of medical technologies. Biomedical
photonics is defined as the science that harnesses light and other forms of radiant energy to solve problems
arising in medicine and biology. This research field has recently experienced an explosive growth due to
the noninvasive or minimally invasive nature and cost-effectiveness of photonic modalities in medical
diagnostics and therapy.
The field of biomedical photonics did not emerge as a well-defined, single research discipline like
chemistry, physics, or biology. Its development and growth have been shaped by the convergence of three
scientific and technological revolutions of the 20th century: the quantum theory revolution, the technology
revolution,
and the genomics
revolution.
The quantum theory of atomic phenomena provides a fundamental framework for molecular biology
and genetics because of its unique understanding of electrons, atoms, molecules, and light itself. Out of
this new scientific framework emerged the discovery of the structure of DNA, the molecular nature of
cell machinery, and the genetic cause of diseases, all of which form the basis of molecular medicine. The
formulation of quantum theory not only gave birth to the field of molecular spectroscopy but also led
to the development of a powerful set of photonics tools — lasers, scanning tunneling microscopes, nearfield
nanoprobes — for exploring nature and understanding the cause of disease at the fundamental level.
Advances in technology also played, and continue to play, an essential role in the development of
biomedical photonics. The invention of the laser was an important milestone; the laser is now the light
source most widely used to excite tissues for disease diagnosis as well as to irradiate tumors for tissue
removal in interventional surgery (“optical scalpels”). The microchip is another important technological
development that has significantly accelerated the evolution of biomedical photonics. Although the laser
has provided a new technology for excitation, the miniaturization and mass production of integrated
circuits, sensor devices, and their associated electronic circuitry made possible by the microchip has
radically transformed the ways in which detection and imaging of molecules, tissues, and organs can be
performed in vivo and ex vivo.
Recently, nanotechnology, which involves research on materials and species at length scales between
1 to 100 nm, has been revolutionizing important areas in biomedical photonics, especially diagnostics
and therapy at the molecular and cellular levels. The combination of photonics and nanotechnology has
already led to a new generation of devices for probing the cell machinery and elucidating intimate life
processes occurring at the molecular level heretofore invisible to human inquiry. This will open the
possibility of detecting and manipulating atoms and molecules using nanodevices, which have the
potential for a wide variety of medical uses at the cellular level. The marriage of electronics, biomaterials,
and photonics is expected to revolutionize many areas of medicine in the 21st century.
Download
http://s18.alxa.net/s18/srvs2/02/003...s.Handbook.rar