A novel optically guided ultrasound imaging system

This study investigates the potential use of combining near infrared diffuse light and ultrasound methods for early detection of small breast tumors. A novel imaging system which combines these two methods is introduced here. Preliminary evaluations using human observers have shown that detection of a few mm object in a highly specked ultrasound image is improved from guessing to 100% certainty when the optical localization information about the object is given.