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Experimental methodology for imaging of laser-excited tissue autofluorescence bleaching rates has been developed and clinically tested. The fluorescence images were periodically captured from the same tissue area over a certain time, with subsequent detection of the fluorescence intensity decrease rate at each image pixel and further imaging the planar distribution of those values. Spectral features at each image pixel were analyzed with a hyperspectral imaging camera. Details of the equipment and image processing are described as well as some measurement results that confirm the feasibility of the proposed technology.

A new technique for parallel recording of reflection photoplethysmography (PPG) signals in a broad spectral band (violet to near-infrared) has been developed, and its potential for assessment of blood microcirculation at various depths from the skin surface is discussed. PPG signals have been simultaneously detected at cw laser wavelength sets comprising 405, 532, 645, 807, and 1064 nm. Various signal baseline responses to breath holding and different shapes of the PPG pulses originated from the same heartbeat but recorded at different wavelengths have been observed, indicating a depth variety of the skin blood pulsation dynamics.

Time-resolved detection and analysis of skin backscattered optical signals (remission photoplethysmography or PPG) provide rich information on skin blood volume pulsations and can serve for reliable cardiovascular assessment. Single- and multiple-channel PPG concepts are discussed. Simultaneous data flow from several locations on the human body allows us to study heartbeat pulse-wave propagation in real time and to evaluate vascular resistance. Portable single-, dual-, and four-channel PPG monitoring devices with special software have been designed for real-time data acquisition and processing. The prototype devices have been clinically studied, and their potential for monitoring heart arrhythmias, drug-efficiency tests, steady-state cardiovascular assessment, body fitness control, and express diagnostics of the arterial occlusions has been confirmed.

The optical design of an interference wedge filter providing the simultaneous separation of a number of closely spaced spectral bands is studied. Multiple reflections of the incident collimated beam within the wedge are initiated, each of them characterized by a different angle of incidence and consequently by specific spectral parameters of the transmitted band. Model calculations based on the measured angular dependences of filter transmission parameters have been performed. The design is proposed for applications in optical communications (wavelength division demultiplexing), analytical spectroscopy (minipolychromators), color analysis, and similar areas.

Optical designs of aspheric internally reflective concentrators of divergent light emitted within a spatial angle of 2n sr are proposed and discussed. Four types of solid transparent element are considered: the divergence angle reducer, the small-spot illuminator, the point focuser, and the collimator. The output beam aperture in all cases is comparable with the light-source external dimensions. Expressions describing the profiles of beam-transforming surfaces and results from experiments with model devices are presented.