Since the publication of the first edition of the Handbook in 2002, optical methods for biomedical diagnostics have developed in many well-established directions, and new trends have also appeared. To encompass all current methods, the text has been updated and expanded into two volumes.

Volume 1: Light - Tissue Interaction features eleven chapters, five of which focus on the fundamental physics of light propagation in turbid media such as biological tissues. The six following chapters introduce near-infrared techniques for the optical study of tissues and provide a snapshot of current applications and developments in this dynamic and exciting field. Topics include the scattering of light in disperse systems, the optics of blood, tissue phantoms, a comparison between time-resolved and continuous-wave methods, and optoacoustics.

Volume 2: Methods begins by describing the basic principles and diagnostic applications of optical techniques based on detecting and processing the scattering, fluorescence, FT IR, and Raman spectroscopic signals from various tissues, with an emphasis on blood, epithelial tissues, and human skin. The second half of the volume discusses specific imaging technologies, such as Doppler, laser speckle, optical coherence tomography (OCT), and fluorescence and photoacoustic imaging.