Dr.

Nabeel Abdulrazzaq Fattah

Biomedical Engineering, PhD, UK
Nursing and patient care, Diploma, Ireland
Nursing Studies - The Physical Examination, Diploma, Ireland
Light waves
• Light is electromagnetic radiation that
can be detected by the human eye.
• Light travels as transverse waves and
faster than sound.

Three Properties of light

1. Reflection
2. Refraction
3. Dispersion
1. Reflection
Light rays change direction when they reflect
off a surface, move from one transparent
medium into another, or travel through a
medium whose composition is continuously
changing.
The law of reflection
mirror
The law of reflection
states that, on reflection
from a smooth surface,
the angle of the reflected
ray is equal to the angle of
the incident ray.
Imaging in mirrors
A plane mirror is a flat
mirror. When you look
into a plane mirror, you
see a reflected image
of yourself.

This image:
appears to be behind
the mirror
is the right way up
is ‘laterally inverted’
2. Refraction
Refraction is another property of wave motion that is
displayed by visible light. It occurs when light rays
move from one medium to another and, upon doing
so, change direction and speed.
3. Scattering
If light meets a rough surface, each ray obeys the law
of reflection. However, the different parts of the
rough surface point in different directions, so the
light is not all reflected in one direction. Instead, the
light is reflected in all directions. This is called diffuse
scattering.
How light travels?
• Light travels as waves.
• These are transverse waves, like the ripples
in a tank of water.
• The direction of vibration in the waves is at
90° to the direction that the light travels.
• Light travels in straight lines.

ripples of water
• Unlike sound waves, light waves can travel
through a vacuum.
• Light can travel through transparent and
translucent substances
The speed of light
• The speed of light is an incredible 299,792,458
meters per second.
• At that speed, you could circle Earth more than 7
times in one second.
• The very large difference between the speed of light
and the speed of sound in air.

7x
Focusing
Light can be focused so that it appears to meet at a
single point. Focusing is important for getting clear
images in our eye or in photographs. Images that
are not focused appear blurred.
Nearsightedness
(myopia) is a
common vision
condition in which
near objects appear
clear, but objects
farther away look
blurry.
Light rays that
should be focused
on nerve tissues at
the back of the eye
(retina) are focused
in front of the
retina.
Farsightedness (hyperopia) is a common vision condition
in which you can see distant objects clearly, but objects
nearby may be blurry.
The degree of your farsightedness influences your
focusing ability.
The pinhole camera
A pinhole camera consists of a box or tube with a translucent
screen at one end and a tiny hole (the pinhole) made in the
other end. Light enters the box through the pinhole and is
focused by the pinhole onto the translucent screen. The image is
upside down and smaller than the object.
The convex lens
A convex lens is made from a transparent material that bulges
outwards in the middle on both sides. It can focus light so that
appears to meet at a single point, called the focal point. Light is
refracted as it passes into, then out of, the lens.

Convex lenses are found in:

• magnifying glasses
• spectacles for people with long-sight
• telescopes
Colour
• White light is a mixture of many different colours, each with
a different frequency.
• White light can be split up into a spectrum of these colours
using a prism, a triangular block of glass or Perspex.
• Light is refracted when it enters the prism, and each colour
is refracted by a different amount. This means that the light
leaving the prism is spread out into its different colours, a
process called dispersion.
The spectrum
Here are the seven colours of the spectrum
listed in order of their frequency, from the
lowest frequency to the highest frequency
This mnemonic is one way to remember the
order: ‘Richard Of York Gave Battle In Vain’.
Coloured light
There are three primary colours in light:
red, green and blue.
Light in these colours can be added together
to make the secondary colours magenta,
cyan and yellow.
All three primary
colours add together
make white light.
When light hits a surface, some of it is
absorbed and some of it is reflected. The
light that is reflected is the colour of the
object in that light.
For example, a blue object absorbs all the
colours of the spectrum except blue: it
reflects blue light.
 𝐶
=
𝑓

3 𝑋 108
=
4.6 𝑋 1014
 = 6.5 𝑋 10−7 m

 = 650 𝑛𝑚
Detecting light
• Cameras and our eyes detect light.
• In each case, they have:
a material that is sensitive to light a
change that happens when this
material absorbs light
The camera
• Cameras are devices that focus light from an
object onto a photo-sensitive material using
a lens.
• In a modern camera or the camera in a
mobile phone, the photo-sensitive material
produces electrical impulses, which are used
to produce an image file.

https://expertphotography.com/a-beginners-guide-to-photography/
The eye
• Like the camera, the eye focuses light from
an object onto a photo-sensitive material.
• In the eye, this material is the retina.
• The retina contains cells that are sensitive to
light.
• The retina produce Chemical-electrical
impulses when they absorb light.
• These impulses are passed along the optic
nerve to the brain, which interprets them as
vision.
Eye anatomy
 Light in Medicine
In medicine, light serves not only as a tool for diagnosis
and treatment but also enhances non-invasive
techniques, allowing for faster recovery, fewer
complications, and improved patient outcomes.
1. Medical Imaging
• X-rays: X-ray imaging uses electromagnetic radiation (a form of
light) to view the inside of the body. It’s commonly used to
diagnose bone fractures, infections, and tumours.
• Endoscopy: Light is used in endoscopes to visualize the interior
of body cavities and organs, aiding in diagnostic procedures
like colonoscopies or bronchoscopy.
• Optical Coherence Tomography (OCT): This is a non-invasive
imaging technique that uses light waves to capture high-
resolution images of tissues, especially for eye diseases like
macular degeneration.
2. Laser Therapy
• Laser Surgery: Lasers use concentrated light beams to perform
precise surgeries with minimal damage to surrounding tissues.
They are used in procedures such as eye surgeries (e.g., LASIK),
skin resurfacing, and tumour removal.
• Laser Hair Removal: A non-invasive treatment that uses laser
light to target hair follicles and reduce hair growth.
• Laser Tattoo Removal: Laser tattoo removal is considered the
most effective and safe way to remove tattoos. However,
complete removal may not always be possible, especially with
tattoos that are very deep, contain resistant colors, or were
applied using certain types of ink.
3. Phototherapy
• Neonatal Jaundice Treatment: Light therapy (often
blue light) is commonly used to treat jaundice in
newborns by breaking down excess bilirubin in the
bloodstream.
• Psoriasis Treatment: Ultraviolet (UV) light therapy
helps manage psoriasis by slowing down the growth
of skin cells.
• Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD): Bright light
therapy is used to treat depression that occurs
during the darker months, mimicking sunlight to help
regulate mood and sleep cycles.
4. Biological Research and Diagnostics
• Fluorescence Microscopy: This technique uses light
to detect specific substances or cells by their
fluorescence, helping researchers and clinicians
study tissues, cells, and microorganisms with great
precision.
• Bioluminescence: Light produced by chemical
reactions in organisms can be used for diagnostic
purposes, like detecting specific biomarkers or
tracking infection spread in real-time.
5. Photodynamic Therapy (PDT)
• This treatment combines light with photosensitizing drugs to
treat cancer and other conditions. The drug is activated by
light, leading to a reaction that destroys cancerous cells. PDT
is used in some cancers, like skin cancer, and to treat
precancerous cells.
6. Therapeutic Light Devices
• Infrared Light: Used in physical therapy and rehabilitation,
infrared light can penetrate the skin to promote healing,
reduce pain, and increase blood circulation.
• Low-Level Laser Therapy (LLLT): This uses low-intensity laser
or light-emitting diodes (LEDs) to promote healing of tissues,
reduce inflammation, and manage pain.
7. Light in Molecular Biology
• Biophotonics: This field involves using light for
diagnostic and therapeutic purposes at the
molecular level, such as using light to measure the
concentration of specific biomarkers in blood or
tissue.
8. Light-Based Diagnostic Tools
• Pulse Oximetry: This non-invasive method uses light
to measure the oxygen saturation in a patient’s
blood, providing critical information for respiratory
or cardiac conditions.
Questions
• How does light travel through glass?
• Why the glasses is transparent?
• Can human be invisible?
• See lightning before you hear it?
• Is there anything faster than light? Why?
• Based on research and the way color is typically
categorized, the human eye can distinguish
approximately ________different colors.
• What is tetrachromats?
End of lecture note 4