A combined time-domain diffuse fluorescence and optical tomography system for breast tumor detection

A combined time-domain diffuse fluorescence and optical tomographic system is proposed based on the multi-channel time-correlated single-photon counting (TCSPC) technique, aiming at enhancing the reliability of breast diffuse optical tomography. The system equipped with two pulsed laser diodes at wavelengths of 780 nm and 830 nm that are specific to the maximal excitation and emission of the FDA-approved ICG dye, and works with a 4-channel TCSPC module to acquire the temporal distributions of the light re-emissions 32 boundary sites of tissues in a tandem serial-to-parallel mode. The performance and efficacy of the system are investigated with phantom experiments for diffuse optical tomography (DOT), as well as fluorescence-guided DOT.