title: Estimate of tissue composition in malignant and benign breast lesions by time-domain optical mammography.
abstract: The optical characterization of malignant and benign breast lesions is presented. Time-resolved transmittance measurements were performed in the 630-1060 nm range by means of a 7-wavelength optical mammograph, providing both imaging and spectroscopy information. A total of 62 lesions were analyzed, including 33 malignant and 29 benign lesions. The characterization of breast lesions was performed applying a perturbation model based on the high-order calculation of the pathlength of photons inside the lesion, which led to the assessment of oxy- and deoxy-hemoglobin, lipids, water and collagen concentrations. Significant variations between tumor and healthy tissue were observed in terms of both absorption properties and constituents concentration. In particular, benign lesions and tumors show a statistically significant discrimination in terms of absorption at several wavelengths and also in terms of oxy-hemoglobin and collagen content.
authors.affiliation: Dipartimento di Fisica, Politecnico di Milano, Piazza Leonardo da Vinci 32, 20133 Milano, Italy.
authors.forename: Giovanna
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Quarto
authors.affiliation: Istituto di Fotonica e Nanotecnologie, Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche, Piazza Leonardo da Vinci 32, 20133 Milano, Italy.
authors.forename: Lorenzo
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Spinelli
authors.affiliation: Dipartimento di Fisica, Politecnico di Milano, Piazza Leonardo da Vinci 32, 20133 Milano, Italy ; Istituto di Fotonica e Nanotecnologie, Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche, Piazza Leonardo da Vinci 32, 20133 Milano, Italy.
authors.forename: Antonio
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Pifferi
authors.affiliation: Dipartimento di Fisica, Politecnico di Milano, Piazza Leonardo da Vinci 32, 20133 Milano, Italy.
authors.forename: Alessandro
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Torricelli
authors.affiliation: Dipartimento di Fisica, Politecnico di Milano, Piazza Leonardo da Vinci 32, 20133 Milano, Italy ; Istituto di Fotonica e Nanotecnologie, Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche, Piazza Leonardo da Vinci 32, 20133 Milano, Italy.
authors.forename: Rinaldo
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Cubeddu
authors.affiliation: European Institute of Oncology, Breast Imaging Unit, Via G. Ripamonti, 435, 20141 Milano, Italy.
authors.forename: Francesca
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Abbate
authors.affiliation: European Institute of Oncology, Department of Radiology, Via G. Ripamonti, 435, 20141 Milano, Italy.
authors.forename: Nicola
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Balestreri
authors.affiliation: European Institute of Oncology, Breast Imaging Unit, Via G. Ripamonti, 435, 20141 Milano, Italy.
authors.forename: Simona
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Menna
authors.affiliation: European Institute of Oncology, Breast Imaging Unit, Via G. Ripamonti, 435, 20141 Milano, Italy.
authors.forename: Enrico
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Cassano
authors.affiliation: Dipartimento di Fisica, Politecnico di Milano, Piazza Leonardo da Vinci 32, 20133 Milano, Italy ; Istituto di Fotonica e Nanotecnologie, Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche, Piazza Leonardo da Vinci 32, 20133 Milano, Italy.
authors.forename: Paola
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Taroni
keywords: (170.3830) Mammography; (170.5280) Photon migration; (170.6510) Spectroscopy, tissue diagnostics; (170.6920) Time-resolved imaging