Thesis (M.S.)--Worcester Polytechnic Institute. / Keywords: impedance spectroscopy; non-invasive instrumentation; ischemia. Includes bibliographical references (p. 146-149).

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Queensland, 2002. / Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Texas at Austin, 2002. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references. Available also from UMI Company.

Thesis (Ph. D.) -- California Institute of Technology, 2010. / Title from home page (viewed 2/25/2010). Advisor and committee chair names found in the thesis' metadata record in the digital repository. Includes bibliographical references.

(M. Sc.)(Physics))--University of Pretoria, 2002. / Abstract in English. Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (M. Phil.)--Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, 2003. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 78-84). Also available in electronic version. Access restricted to campus users.

Thesis (M.S.) in Chemical Engineering--University of Maine, 2002. / Includes vita. Bibliography: leaves 65-68.

Thesis (M. Phil.)--University of Hong Kong, 2002. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 111-114).

Non-melanoma skin cancer is the most prevalent malignancy in the world, with over a million annual positive diagnoses in the United States. If left untreated, these cancers cause morbidity and in rare cases, can become life threatening. The key to identifying and characterizing these tumors in the earliest stages, where they are most treatable lie in margin delineation in order to prevent recurrence. The visual obscurity of tumor morphology and physiology can make early detection a difficult task for dermatologists, particularly in the initial stages of cancer development. Tumor resection is a common course of action once they are discovered; however, there is a high recurrence rate due to incomplete removal of the malignant tissue. This dissertation presents an imaging system that can capture the spectral signatures correlating with morphological and physiological changes that accompany skin dysplasia. With this system, we may improve tumor margin delineation, reducing the number of incomplete tumor biopsies and false negative screenings. As an initial step of this process, we begin with a non-contact point sampling diffuse reflectance probe that mitigates the adverse effects of traditional contact probing. Validation of this probe is performed using tissue simulating phantoms spanning a biologically relevant range of optical and physiological properties to ensure that the non-contact format will not hinder performance relative to the contact probe. Cross polarization and auto-focus mechanisms were included in the design to reduce specular reflections and movement artifacts from in vivo measurements. This non-contact design was further developed into a platform for investigating the role of sampling geometry on diffuse reflectance measurements with the addition of a DMD spatial filter. Finally, we developed a hyperspectral DRSi system for the acquisition of wide-field maps of optical and physiological properties that is currently being tested on patients undergoing skin cancer screenings. The spectral output of this system has been validated for scattering and absorption across biologically relevant ranges using tissue simulating phantoms. The DRSi system was optimized for portability, ergonomics and resolution. / text

This thesis reports the study of molecular and electronic structure of iridium containing diatomic molecules using the technique of laser ablation/reaction with free jet expansion and laser induced fluorescence (LIF) spectroscopy. The iridium containing diatomic molecules studied in this research are iridium phosphide (IrP), iridium boride (IrB) and iridium oxide (IrO). These molecules were produced by the reaction of Ir atoms ablated by a pulsed neodymium-doped yttrium aluminium garnet (Nd:YAG) laser and 1% PH3, 0.5% B2H6 and 6% N2O gases to produce IrP, IrB and IrO molecules respectively. Pulsed tunable lasers: a dye laser and an optical parametric oscillator (OPO) laser system were used to cover the spectral region between 390 and 650 nm in obtaining electronic transitions of the iridium containing diatomic molecules. The recorded electronic spectra of IrP, IrB and IrO molecules yields information on the bond length and electronic structures. For the IrP molecule, five electronic transitions, namely the [21.2] 3Σ+ – X1Σ+, [21.7]1Σ+ – X1Σ+, [23.6] 0+ – X1Σ+, [23.7] 0+ – X1Σ+ and [23.9] 0+ – X1Σ+ transitions, have been recorded and analyzed. The bond length, r0, and the ΔG1/2 of the ground state of 193IrP molecule was determined to be 1.9928? and 569.77 cm-1 respectively. For the IrB molecule, four new electronic transition systems, namely the [18.8]3Δ3 – X3Δ3, [21.1]3Φ4 – X3Δ3, [22.8]3Φ3 – X3Δ3 and [22.4]1Φ3 – a1Δ2 transitions, were observed and analyzed rotationally. The bond lengths, r0, of the upper states of 193IrB were determined to be within 1.72 and 1.80?. For the IrO molecule, five electronic transitions from two different lower states were recorded and analyzed, namely the [17.6] 2.5 – X2Δ5/2, [17.8] 2.5 – X2Δ5/2, [21.5] 2.5 – X2Δ5/2, [22.0] 2.5 – X2Δ5/2 and [21.9] 3.5 – Ω = 3.5 transitions. The ground state of IrO has been confirmed to be 25/2. The bond length, r0, and the ΔG1/2 of the ground state of 193IrO molecule was determined to be 1.726 A and 900.00 cm-1 respectively. For all the transitions observed, rotationally-resolved transition lines were fit to theoretical models to obtain molecular constants for both the upper and lower electronic states. Typical molecular transition linewidths obtained was larger than 0.1cm-1, which is likely to be due to unresolved hyperfine structure in the rotational lines. In addition, the observation of isotopic spectrum confirmed the assignment of vibrational quantum number. Molecular and electronic structures of these iridium containing diatomic molecules were discussed using a simple molecular orbital theory. / published_or_final_version / Chemistry / Doctoral / Doctor of Philosophy