Abstract

Near infrared (NIR) technology using laser light sources at an optical window from 700-900 nm is shown to carry diagnostic value for early detection of breast cancer. The basic principle behind a breast tumor imager depends on detecting the abnormal changes in the optical properties of the breast tissue during cancerogenesis. This imager operates on the well established principle of amplitude cancellation time multiplex system which features congruent images of angiogenesis and hyper-metabolism, two diagnostics for tumors which both may be prognostic as well. The proposed device is a much more compact hand-held, battery operated system that can be used in field studies which is much faster, giving an image every second of the underlying deviation of optical properties of the tumor bearing breast from normal. The image is displayed in real-time on the back of the hand-held optical probe. The imager is a microcontroller controlled, self-calibrating device that requires minimum user interface. It is designed to be operated by technicians.

© 2000 Optical Society of America