A diffuse reflectance spectral imaging system for tumor margin assessment using custom annular photodiode arrays

Diffuse reflectance spectroscopy (DRS) is a well-established method to quantitatively distinguish between benign and cancerous tissue for tumor margin assessment. Current multipixel DRS margin assessment tools are bulky fiber-based probes that have limited scalability. Reported herein is a new approach to multipixel DRS probe design, which utilizes direct detection of the DRS signal by using optimized custom photodetectors in direct contact with the tissue. This first fiberless DRS imaging system for tumor margin assessment consists of a 4 × 4 array of annular silicon photodetectors and a constrained free-space light delivery tube optimized to deliver light across a 256 mm(2) imaging area. This system has 4.5 mm spatial resolution. The signal-to-noise ratio measured for normal and malignant breast tissue-mimicking phantoms was 35 dB to 45 dB for λ = 470 nm to 600 nm.