Background
We developed a laser optical imaging system for the Montreal firm ART Advanced Research and Technologies to diagnose and characterize abnormalities in human tissue and detect cancerous lesions using a safe light source. This new system, which is now commercialized by ART under the name SoftScan®, provides functional and physiological information about a lesion, such as tissue perfusion and blood, oxygen, and water content, and allows a lesion to be characterized as benign or malignant.
Solution
Optical breast imaging requires no painful compression of the breast and emits no harmful ionizing radiation. It makes it possible to define and analyze variations in optical parameters in breast tissue, even in patients with dense breast tissue, which is typical of younger women and those receiving hormone replacement treatment.