We present line scan reflectance diffuse optical tomography (LS-RDOT), a technique to generate quantitative cross-sectional images of hemoglobin concentration, tissue oxygen saturation, water content, and lipid content, for non-invasive bedside imaging of breast cancer. The LS-RDOT system is composed of a single-channel time-domain diffuse optical spectroscopy (TD-DOS) system measuring at wavelengths of 761, 802, 838, 908, 936, and 976 nm and hand-held probes with source–detector distances of 20, 30, and 40 mm. The line scans were performed by acquiring temporal point spread functions (TPSF) at 9 measurement points with a spacing of 5 mm linearly marked on the skin just above the breast lesion. The cross-sectional images were restored by an iterative image reconstruction method with an expression of the TPSF obtained from the photon diffusion equation using the Rytov approximation. A preliminary clinical measurement was conducted for a breast cancer patient with a tumor of approximately 10 mm in size. The reconstructed images captured changes in the physiological parameters of the breast cancer at the lesion location indicated by the ultrasonographic image. In addition, the results showed that LS-RDOT provides cross-sectional images of physiological parameters in a form that can be fused with structural images provided by ultrasonography
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