Linear image reconstruction for a diffuse optical mammography system in a noncompressed geometry using scattering fluid.

Diffuse optical tomography (DOT) is a potential new imaging modality to detect or monitor breast lesions. Recently, Philips developed a new DOT system capable of transmission and fluorescence imaging, where the investigated breast is hanging freely into the measurement cup containing scattering fluid. We present a fast and robust image reconstruction algorithm that is used for the transmission measurements. The algorithm is based on the Rytov approximation. We show that this algorithm can be used over a wide range of tissue optical properties if the reconstruction is adapted to each patient. We use estimates of the breast shape and average tissue optical properties to initialize the reconstruction, which improves the image quality significantly. We demonstrate the capability of the measurement system and reconstruction to image breast lesions by clinical examples.