The results of the first set of clinical trials with the Philips optical ma
mmography prototype system are summarized, This optical mammo prototype is
designed to image the interior of the female breast with the help of near-i
nfrared (NIR) laser light transmission measurements. This study is expected
to lead to optical tomography systems for breast cancer detection. This pa
per presents information on the design of the optical mammo system, the cli
nical measurements and the imaging results from an initial group of ten pat
ients, and discussions about ongoing research on optical tomography.