Ma. Franceschini et al., FREQUENCY-DOMAIN TECHNIQUES ENHANCE OPTICAL MAMMOGRAPHY - INITIAL CLINICAL-RESULTS, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United Statesof America, 94(12), 1997, pp. 6468-6473
We present a novel approach to optical mammography and initial clinica
l results. We have designed and developed a frequency-domain (110-MHz)
optical scanner that performs a transillumination raster scan of the
female breast in approximately 3 min, The probing light is a dual-wave
length (690 and 810 nm, 10-mW average power), 2-mm-diameter laser beam
, and the detection optical fiber is 5 mm in diameter. The ac amplitud
e and phase data are processed with use of an algorithm that performs
edge effect corrections, thereby enhancing image contrast. This contra
st enhancement results in a greater tumor detectability compared with
simple light intensity images, The optical mammograms are displayed on
a computer screen in real time, We present x-ray and optical mammogra
ms from two patients with breast tumors. Our initial clinical results
show that the frequency-domain scanner, even at the present stage of d
evelopment, has the potential to be a useful tool in mammography.