Breast Imaging

X -ray mammography has long been the gold standard for breast cancer detection, offering a means to identify non-palpable tumors with fairly high sensitivity. The technique depends on structural changes within the breast, however -- and for this reason cannot detect cancers at very early stages, before they are visible on an x-ray. Clinicians would benefit tremendously from a method that enabled them to detect the formation and early growth of tumors.

Near-infrared spectroscopy is just such a method. NIRS can measure hemodynamic changes reflecting the metabolic demands of tumors during formation, and therefore can identify tumors before they are visible an x-ray. In addition, it can spot tumors that might be hidden on x-rays (in dense breasts, for example) and differentiate between tumors and non-cancerous masses such as cysts -- thus helping to avoid unnecessary biopsies, which can be particularly traumatic for patients.

Researchers have been working to develop near-infrared spectroscopy and diffuse optical tomography for breast cancer detection since the late 1990s. Many of these efforts have focused on multimodal imaging with NIRS providing functional information about the formation and growth of tumors and x-ray offering structural guidance. Early trials have proved very successful, as can be seen in the representative publications on the NIRSOptix publications page.

TechEn has begun to develop commercial NIRS systems specifically for breast cancer applications. Please contact us to discuss your needs further.