Optical Technology Transfer and Innovation in Ophthalmic Imaging

The book presents a new view of symbiotic technology transfer between different fields in the optical sciences. For example, adaptive optics were initially developed for military research programs seeking to correct the effects of atmosphere fluctuations on telescopes. The technology was subsequently transferred to optical microscopes, and then finally used in ophthalmic imaging devices to image photoreceptors in the living human retina. This book examines various recent and historical technology transfers among the optical sciences, and attempts to answer the following questions: What are the mathematical and the physical foundations of these technology advances? What events and influences (military requirements, new journals, new funding sources, the internet, etc.) made the technologies and their transfer possible? What was the impact of technology transfer on the development of optical science? What role did the human eye and visual system play in technology development? This book examines how innovations propagate from one field to another, illustrating the benefits of cross-disciplinary collaboration. This book should be of interest to scientists and researchers in many fields of optics, as well as technical policy makers at funding institutions.