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Updated: Jul 17, 2026
Tracking the Mammary Architectural Features and Detecting Breast Cancer with Magnetic Resonance Diffusion Tensor Imaging
Published on: December 15, 2014
Compression-induced changes in the physiological state of the breast as observed through frequency domain photon
Stefan A Carp1, Tina Kauffman, Qianqian Fang
1Harvard Medical School, Massachusetts General Hospital, Athinoula A. Martinos Center for Biomedical Imaging, Charlestown, Massachusetts 02129, USA. carp@nmr.mgh.harvard.edu
Abstract:
We use optical spectroscopy to characterize the influence of mammographic-like compression on the physiology of the breast. We note a reduction in total hemoglobin content, tissue oxygen saturation, and optical scattering under compression. We also note a hyperemic effect during repeated compression cycles. By modeling the time course of the tissue oxygen saturation, we are able to obtain estimates for the volumetric blood flow (1.64+/-0.6 mL/100 mL/min) and the oxygen consumption (1.97+/-0.6 micromol/100 mL/min) of compressed breast tissue. These values are comparable to estimates obtained from previously published positron emission tomography (PET) measurements. We conclude that compression-induced changes in breast physiological properties are significant and should be accounted for when performing optical breast imaging. Additionally, the dynamic characteristics of the changes in breast physiological parameters, together with the ability to probe the tissue metabolic state, may prove useful for breast cancer detection.
