Designing an optical system to imaging breast tumors and testing in in-vitro conditions

Objective: The aim of this study is to design an optical system that can determine the structural changes of breast tumors in patients during adjuvant and neo-adjuvant therapy. Method: After the determination of the optical geometry for the design of the optical system, electronic card designs and microcontroller software were prepared. Tissue-like phantoms and inclusion that representing the tumor were performed and in-vitro measurements were taken with the optical system. After the measurements, the data were transferred to the computer and reconstruction techniques were perfromed. The basic images obtained as a result of reconstruction techniques and finalized by using image processing methods. Results: Developed optical imaging system was used to detect inclusion in different locations in the tissue phantoms. The success of the developed system was tested with the ability to find the inclusion in different positions with its dimensions in the tissue phantoms. Conclusion: The developed optical system was used to acquire data from the breast phantoms with the inclusions at different depths of 15 mm, 20 mm, 25 mm and locations. After the reconstruction, locations, and size of the inclusions defined correctly as the actual location and sizes.