INTRODUCTION This paper presents a personal view of the relationship between science and the humanities within medical education, arguing for a more even balance between the two. This view stems from the author's recent experience of exploring the literature of learning theory and the social sciences. BACKGROUND For historical reasons, medical education is dominated by a positivistic paradigm...

The goal in fluorescence microscopy is to detect the signal of fluorescently labeled molecules with great sensitivity and minimal background noise. In epifluorescence microscopy, it is difficult to observe weak signals along the optical axis, owing to the overpowering signal from the out-of-focus particles. Confocal microscopy uses a small pinhole to produce thin optical sections ( 500 nm), but...

We introduce a new microscopy technique termed total internal reflection holographic microscopy (TIRHM). Quantitative phase microscopy by digital holography is used to image the phase profile of light in total internal reflection, which is modulated by the materials present on or near the surface of internal reflection. The imaging characteristics are theoretically modeled and imaging capabilit...

Planar diffractive optical elements are well suited to fulfill the needs of optical interconnections. They are efficient and can serve as focusing elements, imaging elements, beam deflectors, and fan-out elements. Almost any shape of structure can be realized. This flexibility allows complex and compact interconnections. Two different types of diffractive optical elements exist: the holographic...

We investigate the inverse-scattering problem that arises in total internal reflection microscopy. An analytic solution to this problem within the weak-scattering approximation is used to develop a novel form of three-dimensional microscopy with subwavelength resolution.

The multiple signal classification (MUSIC) imaging method is applied to determine the locations of a collection of small anisotropic spherical scatterers in the framework of the total internal reflection tomography. Multiple scattering between scatterers is considered and the inverse scattering problem is nonlinear, which, however, is solved by the proposed fast analytical approach where no ass...

An integrated total internal reflection prism is demonstrated that generates a transversely localized evanescent wave along the boundary between a photonic crystal and an etched out trench. The reflection can be described by either the odd symmetry of the Bloch wave or a tangential momentum matching condition. In addition, the Bloch wave propagates through the photonic crystal in a negative ref...