Three-dimensional time-resolved optical tomography of a conical breast phantom

A 32-channel time-resolved imaging device for medical optical tomography ha s been employed to evaluate a scheme for imaging the human female breast. T he fully automated instrument and the reconstruction procedure have been te sted on a conical phantom with tissue-equivalent optical properties. The im aging protocol has been designed to obviate compression of the breast and t he need for coupling fluids. Images are generated from experimental data wi th an iterative reconstruction algorithm that employs a three-dimensional ( 3D) finite-element diffusion-based forward model. Embedded regions with twi ce the background optical properties are revealed in separate 3D absorption and scattering images of the phantom. The implications for 3D time-resolve d optical tomography of the breast are discussed. (C) 2001 Optical Society of America.