The Department of Physics

Course Description

Lasers and fiber optics have significant applications in medicine including in imaging and the illumination components of endoscopes to view internal organs. Flexible and rigid fiber cables with laser emitters and detectors are used to access organs. This course provides a background on fundamental optics, fiber optics, and lasers, and their applications to biomedical instrumentation. This course comprises: physics of fiber optics; fiber modes, transmission, and detection; fiber bundles; endoscopy imaging; sigmoidoscopy; colonoscopy; bronchoscopy; physics of lasers; laser classifications and characteristics; laser types; laser interaction with tissue; laser medical applications; laser radiation safety; clinical applications of fiber-optic laser systems. This course will be assessed through in-course assignments and a final examination.

Assessment