Biomedical Optics and Biophotonics
Study of light in life sciences covering imaging, OCT, microscopy, and spectroscopy. Covers geometric optics, lens design, Fourier transforms, polarization, and scattering theory.
Summary
Recent recorded grades — Spring 2019: 3.70 GPA, 80.0% A/AB (n=10 letter grades).
What you’ll be able to do
identify common optical components and describe their fundamental principles
select an appropriate technique or technology best suited to solve a given research or medical problem and explain the rationale
solve optical design problems including 1st order optical design of a scanning light microscope
orally present and critique a recent journal article with a succinct description of the optical methods or concepts employed and evaluate the pros and cons
Source: UW Guide
Grade history
↗All recorded terms · compare terms & instructors
Prerequisites
Course mapGraduate/professional standing
- Graduate/professional standing
This is a best-effort interpretation; check the catalog requirements above.
Prerequisite text tree
- Graduate/professional standing
Professors
Spring 2027No instructors recorded for this selection.
Historical instructors & teaching patterns
Recorded history may be incomplete and does not establish a future schedule.
Calendar & sections
Spring 2027Schedule loads here as you scroll.
| Section | Mode | Enrolled / capacity | Waitlist |
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Times are Central. Select a meeting for details; export includes recorded dates for the selected sections.
Meeting source records
No records available.
Student experience
the class
Recent recorded grades — Spring 2019: 3.70 GPA, 80.0% A/AB (n=10 letter grades).
difficulty & workload
No workload feedback recorded.
Topics
- Light interactions with cells and tissue for imaging, measurement, diagnosis, and therapy.
- Optical imaging, endoscopy, microscopy, OCT, quantitative phase microscopy, spectroscopy, and diffuse optical tomography.
- Geometric optics, lens design, Fourier transforms, polarization, interference, coherence, and scattering theory.
Skills
- Identify common optical components and describe their fundamental principles.
- Select an appropriate technique or technology for a research or medical problem and explain the rationale.
- Solve optical design problems, including 1st order optical design of a scanning light microscope.
- Orally present and critique a recent journal article describing optical methods or concepts.
Grades
Latest available · Spring 2019— not enough history to project Spring 2027.
Grade distribution · % of letter grades
More grade details Grade mix, volume & source data
Not enough comparable courses for Spring 2027 in UW–Madison.
Sources & history
Catalog & offerings
Descriptions, prerequisites, and recorded course offerings.
Catalog observation history
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Raw records
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Student reviews
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Read original reviews
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Grade history
Recorded grade distributions by term, section, and instructor.
Explore recorded gradesRecorded 2026-10-14
Model outputs & technical records
LLM outputs across runs
Full model traces
Recorded model configuration, reasoning, and tool conversations.
Model & dataset provenance
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"requirements_status": "valid",
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"observed_at": "2026-10-14 17:50:09.728220+00:00"
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