Detection of breast lesions by holographic interferometry

The holographic interferometry (HI) technique commonly used for nondestructive testing of laminate materials was applied to create fringe contour distortion near the site of indwelling breast lesions. For this medical imaging application the HI technique was successful in demonstrating abnormal mechanical properties of living tissue. Adequate density and contrast of fringes, crucial factors necessary for analysis of surface deformation of an object, can be made only with an appropriate stressing method. We have applied vibration and mild pressure to the surface of female breasts for the purpose of detecting localized densities and mass alterations of the tissue, which may be indicative of an abnormality of that tissue. Even though each stressing method had both positive and negative aspects, pneumatic pressure was adopted for the present study because it was more suitable for a noninvasive and noncontact breast examination. We also developed a computer based holographic imaging system to precisely control the stressing phase for the pressure and laser triggering so the resultant holograms had manageable fringe density and repeatability. (C) 1999 Society of Photo-Optical Instrumentation Engineers. [S1083-3668(99)01303-9].