Abstract
We investigated the effects of operator-applied force on diffuse optical spectroscopy (DOS) by integrating a force transducer into the handheld probe. Over the typical range of contact forces measured in the breasts of eight patients, absorption and reduced scattering coefficients (650 to 1000 nm) variance was 3.1 +/- 1.0% and 1.0 +/- 0.4%. For trained operators, we observed <5% variation in hemoglobin and <2% variation in water and lipids. Contact force is not a significant source of variation, most likely because of a relatively wide probe surface area and the stability of the DOS method for calculating tissue optical properties.
Highlights
This study investigates the effects of operator-applied force on diffuse optical spectroscopy (DOS) measurements by integrating a small force transducer into the handheld probe
If we restrict the relative contact force range to the range most likely used by the operator (i.e., 20–50%), these values decrease to 3.1 ± 1.0% and 1.0 ± 0.4% for μa and μs′, respectively
The variation of μa and μs′ with respect to contact force is very similar to the variation in μa and μs′ seen in repeated measurements by picking up the probe and replacing it at the same location
Summary
A. Quality Control with a Handheld Optical Probe There are several optical imaging and/or spectroscopic instruments used in breast tissue characterization that employ a handheld probe design [1,2,3,4,5,6]. Handheld probes potentially offer several advantages compared to fixed imaging geometries. A breast lesion may be and rapidly localized with multiple views, as with conventional ultrasound, and probes can be placed in difficult-to-access areas such as the chest wall. Handheld probe instrumentation can be engineered to be office-based and portable. Concerns arise with the potential for operator-dependent errors. Most studies involving research-grade optical instruments, including ours, are the products of university laboratories that typically stress scientific results and initial translational studies, but have not emphasized standardization
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