Time-domain optical mammography: initial clinical results on detection and characterization of breast tumors

Mammograms of 35 patients suspected of breast cancer were taken along craniocaudal and mediolateral projections with a dual-wavelength scanning laser pulse mammograph measuring time-resolved transmittance. Among 26 tumors known from routine clinical diagnostics, 17 tumors were detected retrospectively in optical mammograms. Effective tumor optical properties derived from a homogeneous model were used to deduce physiological information. All tumors exhibited increased total hemoglobin concentration and decreased or unchanged blood oxygen saturation compared with surrounding healthy tissue. Scatter plots based on a pixelwise analysis of individual mammograms were introduced and applied to represent corelations between characteristic quantities derived from measured distributions of times of flight of photons.