Designing an efficient imaging system for biomedical optics requires a solid understanding of the special requirements of the optical systems for biomedical imaging and the optical components used in the systems. However, a lack of reference books on optical design (imaging and illumination) for biomedical imaging has led to some inefficient systems. This book fills the gap between biomedical optics and optical design by addressing the fundamentals of biomedical optics and optical engineering, and biomedical imaging systems. The first half provides a brief introduction to biomedical optics and then covers the fundamentals of optics, optical components, light sources, detectors, optical imaging system design, and illumination system design. This also includes important issues related to biomedical imaging, such as autofluorescence from optical materials. The second half of the text covers various biomedical imaging techniques and their optical systems, along with design examples.

Biomedical optics is a rapidly growing area of research that has passed the "tipping point" for technology transfer, with significant momentum toward commercialization. Optical engineering is one of the keys in the development and commercialization of new imaging technologies, encompassing the selection of optical configurations, light sources, optical components, detectors, illumination and imaging system designs, and testing. Designing an efficient system for biomedical imaging requires a solid understanding of special requirements of optical systems for biomedical imaging and optical components used in the systems.

This book is developed from the SPIE short course Optical Design for Biomedical Imaging that I have been teaching since 2008. It can be used as a reference for students, researchers, and engineers in biomedical fields. Readers can learn about the fundamentals of biomedical optics (light and tissue interaction, effect of tissue on optical system), optical component specification and selection, light sources, detectors, various optical systems and specific requirements for biomedical imaging. They will also learn how to design and model illumination and imaging systems for biomedical applications.

Chapter 1 gives an introduction to optical signals in biomedical optical imaging, tissues in optical systems, and biomedical optical imaging techniques. Readers without a background in optical design can gain some fundamental knowledge on optical systems and design from Chapter 2, which covers paraxial optics, optical properties and radiometry of optical systems, aberration fundamentals, aberration corrections, performance evaluations of optical systems, and basic optical design. Chapter 3 is dedicated to optical fibers in biomedical imaging, including the optics and optical properties of fibers and fiber bundles, fiber optic illumination and imaging systems. Chapters 4-8 discuss microscope optics, fluorescence imaging, polarization imaging, confocal imaging and endoscope optics. Each chapter starts with principles of imaging techniques and then discusses configurations, light sources, detectors, key optical components, and imaging and illumination system design with some design examples. Some other imaging techniques, such as optical coherence tomography, are not covered here, though they will be included in the next edition.