Optical Instrumentation, computer vision, and augmented reality are powerful platform technologies. In this lecture, we will discuss how these technologies can be used for medical applications. I will give an overview of the technologies and current challenges relevant to medical and surgical settings. The recent advances in image acquisition, computer vision, photonics, and instrumentation present the scientific community with the opportunity to develop new systems to impact healthcare. Leveraging an integrated design, advantages of hardware and software approach can be combined, and shortcomings can be complemented. I will present new approaches of fluorescence imaging for surgical applications. We will discuss hardware instrumentation, algorithm development, and system deployment. New development in multimodal imaging and image registration will also be discussed. For example, a combination of real-time intraoperative optical imaging and CT-based surgical navigation represents a promising approach for clinical decision support. Integration of 3D imaging and augmented reality provides surgeons with an intuitive way to visualize surgical data. In addition to technological development, I will discuss the clinical translation of systems and cross-disciplinary collaboration. Interdisciplinary approaches to solving complex problems in surgically relevant settings will be described.
