Development of a handheld diffuse optical breast cancer assessment probe

Abstract

Diffuse Optical Spectroscopy (DOS) is a promising non-invasive and non-ionizing technique for breast anomaly detection. In this study, we have developed a new handheld DOS probe to measure optical properties of breast tissue. In the proposed probe, the breast tissue is illuminated with four near infrared (NIR) wavelengths light emitting diodes (LED), which are encapsulated in a package (eLEDs), and two PIN photodiodes measure the intensity of the scattered photons at two different locations. The proposed technique of using eLEDs is introduced, in order to have a multi-wavelength pointed-beam illumination source instead of using the laser-coupled fiber-optic technique, which increases the complexity, size, and cost of the probe. Despite the fact that the proposed technique miniaturizes the probe and reduces the complexity of the DOS, the study proves that it is accurate and reliable in measuring optical properties of the tissue. The measurements are performed at the rate of 10[Formula: see text]Hz which is suitable for dynamic measurement of biological activity, in-vivo. The multi-spectral evaluation algorithm is used to reconstruct four main absorber concentrations in the breast including oxy-hemoglobin (cHb), deoxy-hemoglobin (cHbO2), water (cH2O), fat (cFat), and average scattering coefficient of the medium, as well as concentration changes in Hb ([Formula: see text]cHb) and HbO2 ([Formula: see text]cHbO2). Although the probe is designed for breast cancer diagnosis, it can be used in a wide range of applications for both static and dynamic measurements such as functional brain imaging. A series of phantoms, comprised of Delrin[Formula: see text], Intralipid[Formula: see text], PierceTM and Black ink, are used to verify performance of the device. The probe will be tested on human subjects, in-vivo, in the next phase.