Optical biopsy of breast tissue using differential path-length spectroscopy

Differential path-length spectroscopy (DPS) was used to determine the local optical properties of breast tissue in vivo. DPS measurements were made on healthy and malignant breast tissue using a fibre-optic needle probe, and were correlated to the histological outcome of core-needle biopsies taken from the same location as the measurements. DPS yields information on the local tissue blood content, the local blood oxygenation, the average micro-vessel diameter, the beta-carotene concentration and the scatter slope. Our data show that malignant breast tissue is characterized by a significant decrease in tissue oxygenation and a higher blood content compared to normal breast tissue.