The first wave of Photonics West 2008 attendees arrived Tuesday at the San Jose Convention Center to inspect new products on display from 1100 exhibitors. The conference and exhibition is expected to attract 17,000 from more than 50 countries, organizers said. The SPIE-sponsored conference, to be held through Jan. 24, began Saturday with the BIOS 2008 biomedical optics exhibition, which drew more than 1500 attendees to 1200 presentations on molecular imaging, therapeutic lasers, biomedical optics, nanophotonics and biophotonics, biosensors and spectroscopic/microscopic imaging. The BIOS exhibition featured 150 companies showcasing new applications and technologies in diagnostics, therapeutics and instrumentation. At the four Photonics West symposia -- BiOS, LASE, MOEMS-MEMS and OPTO -- 3100 technical papers are being presented at 85 conferences. Also on the agenda are 80 technical courses and workshops.