Noise and stray light characterization of a compact CCD spectrophotometer used in biomedical applications

In recent years, new generation spectrophotometers are increasingly used in biomedical applications. Handheld spectrophotometers, offering compactness, versatility, and low cost, have facilitated a broad array of applications in biomedical optics. However, despite the popularity and the diverse range of applications, a detailed characterization of many of these new spectrophotometers in terms of stray light and noise characteristics is missing from the literature. Such a popular instrument (USB2000) is characterized in detail with particular focus and emphasis on its noise and stray light characteristics. The results of the analysis may be useful to numerous users of this and other similar instruments in a diverse range of applications. (C) 2010 Optical Society of America