updated Oct. 31,97

Surfing the web of biomedical optics websites.

Oregon Medical Laser Center Newsletter, Nov. 1997. Steven Jacques

I've been surfing the web for sites related to biomedical optics. Here are the results of my efforts presented as annotated links to various sites. Although our field is exploding with new interest and growing numbers of academic investigators and commercial ventures, the content on the WEB is still limited. Hopefully, more people will devote effort to developing biomedical optics websites since the WEB is a tremendous way to inform the world-wide community of our emerging field.

Contents of this article:

Websites related to biomedical optics

  • Oregon Medical Laser Center
    Our own site at the OMLC, Portland, Oregon, has growing and regularly updated content. We offer a library of software on optical transport, a Biomedical Optics Newsletter, links to related sites, a home page for our PhotoDynamic Therapy Cancer Treatment Center, as well as the usual listings of laboratory projects, staff, listings of our papers w. abstracts, etc. https://omlc.org

  • Optical Society of America
    The OSA presents a premier site which covers a broad range of optical topics. Includes conference announcements, technical home pages for the various disciplines within optics, links to many academic and commercial websites. http://www.osa.org
    The technical home for biomedical optics is a very good site, a must visit. Site includes news and features, a calendar of events, links, people, a discussion group, monographs, bibliographies, software, awards and more. http://www.osa.org/homes/biooptic/

  • Univ. of Pennsylvania
    Britton Chance and his crew offer a brief colorful glimpse into their world with an attractive presentation of images illustrating the concept of photon migration imaging. http://www.med.upenn.edu/~oisg/oisg.html

  • Beckman Laser Institute and Medical Clinic
    The BLI is a major site for medical laser activities, both diagnostic and therapeutic. This site has a professional look and has significant content, but has yet to be as fully developed as is warranted by their vigorous research and medical program. Look to this site developing further. http://www.bli.uci.edu/

  • University College of London, UK
    David Delpy and colleagues have been pioneers in the field of photon migration and optical spectroscopy and imaging. The website outlines their many activities. Some projects are well described by the students or investigators, and some are not. http://www.medphys.ucl.ac.uk/cmt.htm
    The contribution to "optical tomography" is entitled TOAST (Temporal Optical Absorption and Scattering Tomography). This well developed page explains the method and lets you download the software which runs under UNIX on a SUN workstation.http://www.medphys.ucl.ac.uk/toast/index.htm

  • Photon Migration Laboratory, Purdue University
    The Photon Migration Laboratory of Eva Sevick-Muraca at Purdue University is an interesting site from a group very active in research. The site has content. The graphics files are all too large, however, and so downloading is often quite slow. http://photon.ecn.purdue.edu/%7Echepmi/ppml.html

  • Univ. of Illinois in Urbana-Champaign
    This group is a leading center for research in optical techniques. However, the site has few pages and limited content. One good thing is their list of publications, which often a helpful item to include in website.http://www.physics.uiuc.edu/groups/fluorescence/lfdhome.html

  • Center for Fluorescence Spectroscopy, University of Maryland at Baltimore School of Medicine
    Joseph Lakowicz and his colleagues at the CFS present a very professional looking website dedicated to fluorescence measurement techniques and fluorophore chemistry. The site also is home to the Journal of Fluorescence, the Journal of Biomedical Optics, and the CFS Fluorescence Spectroscopy Course. http://charlie.ab.umd.edu/

  • Blackett Laboratory at Imperial College, UK
    This site has a variety of optical projects related to imaging through turbulence, some of which will interest biomedical investigators.http://op.ph.ic.ac.uk
    Their one page on biomedical optics is called "optical tomography".http://op.ph.ic.ac.uk/tomog/tomog.html

  • SPIE - Society for Photo-optical Instrumentation Engineers
    The SPIE presents a premier site for optical instrumentation and engineering. Includes conference announcements, home pages for the various working groups that concentrate on particular projects, links to academic and commercial websites. http://www.spie.org
    HOWEVER, the working group on biomedical optics, BiOS or Biomedical Optics Society, offers only a one page statement with no content. This website is a major disappointment in view of the fact that the annual SPIE meeting in San Jose is home to a broad range of conferences on optics, spectroscopy, and medical laser applications, and is one of the best international conferences available for our field. The SPIE initiated and biennially hosts the foremost conference on biomedical optics: the Photon Migration conference chaired by Britton Chance and Robert Alfano. Let's hope that SPIE develops a real biomedical optics website soon.http://www.spie.org/web/ working_groups/biomedical_optics/bios_desc.html

  • Wellman Laboratories of Photomedicine
    Although one of the major laboratories in medical laser applications and biomedical optics development, this site is nearly devoid of content. It lists research interests and the staff involved in each project, but does not describe the projects. Anticipate this site to develop in the future because the Wellman Labs is a very active center and their website simply needs to catch up. http://wellman.mgh.harvard.edu
    Massachusetts General Hospital Laser Center
    This site is the clinical arm associated with the Wellman Labs. It has limited content with respect to biomedical optics. There are some pages on PDT that cite current clinical studies.http://mghlc.mgh.harvard.edu/

  • National Scaling Cluster Project
    One page only entitled "National Scaling Cluster Project" by O'Leary and Yodh. Discusses nearIR photon imaging.http://nscp01.physics.upenn.edu/sc95/optic.html

  • American Society for Lasers in Medicine and Surgery
    The ASLMS is the major US organization for medical laser applications. However, their site is not at all developed and would not interest biomedical optics surfers in its current state. It's a shame because the ASLMS should be a leader in promulgation of information on medical lasers and optical diagnostics. http://www.aslms.org/

    Miscellaneous sites


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