Laser transmission photo-scanner: clinical application in breast tumor detection (report 3).

: The increasing number of breast cancer patients in Japan necessitates the development of a useful screening method. Previous studies using a laser transmission photo-scanner for breast lesions showed its use to be feasible in screening for small lesions in small breasts. An increase in the power of the laser beam, however, is necessary to detect small tumors in larger breasts or large tumors. In cases where mammography was compared with laser transmission images, the latter were compatible with published data. More precise examination of laser transmission photo-scanning with the addition of spectro-analysis is the next step.