Phase-contrast diffuse optical tomography pilot results in the breast.

Area of Science:

• Biomedical optics
• Medical imaging
• Breast cancer diagnostics

Background:

• Accurate differentiation of malignant and benign breast masses is crucial for effective patient management.
• Conventional diffuse optical tomography (DOT) has limitations in breast mass analysis.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate the effectiveness of phase-contrast diffuse optical tomography (PCDOT) in differentiating malignant from benign breast masses.
• To compare PCDOT with conventional DOT for breast mass analysis.

Main Methods:

• Thirty-five breast masses in 33 patients were imaged using PCDOT.
• Images of refractive index, absorption, and scattering coefficients were reconstructed using a finite element algorithm.
• Results were compared with biopsy and pathology data.

Main Results:

• Malignant lesions typically exhibited a decreased refractive index compared to benign lesions.
• Refractive index imaging achieved 74.3% overall accuracy, with 81.8% sensitivity and 70.8% specificity.
• Absorption and scattering images did not effectively discriminate between lesion types. Accuracy improved with patient age.

Conclusions:

• Refractive index is a novel parameter for optical imaging of breast masses.
• PCDOT, utilizing refractive index, shows potential for improving the differentiation of malignant and benign breast masses.