Spectral transillumination of human breast tissue

Abstract
By transilluminating human tissue in vivo in the visible and near-IR regions, specific information can be obtained in utilizing both the scattering and the absorbing properties of light. Different compositions of fatty, fibrous, glandular, and muscular tissues are associated with different optical parameters (reduced scattering and absorption coefficients). To characterize human breast tissue in vivo, measurements were carried out in a clinical environment. Thus the tissues, which showed a variety of pathalogical alteration, where measured in patients with different age, different breast size, in varying locations in the breast. The results indicate that other characteristics beyond the pure detection of the amount of blood in the neovascular network, in particular the volume concentrations of water and fat, seem to be important for the discrimination. In order to quantify this observation, an analytical model was developed that takes the volume percentages of fat and water, the concentration and oxygenation of hemoglobin, and the relevant optical coefficients into account. The in vivo spectra could be fitted in all cases. Typical results will be discussed and preliminary statistical correlations presented.

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