Abstract: An apparatus for breast scanning comprises a patient support for a patient to rest in a prone position, the support having an opening with one of her breasts vertically pendent through the opening for scanning; and a laser CT scanner disposed below the support for generating data for reconstruction of images of the breast. The laser CT scanner includes a laser beam for impinging on the breast. The laser beam is orbitable around the breast. The laser CT scanner includes a plurality of detectors positioned in an arc around the breast to simultaneously detect light transmitted through the breast. The measured signal level at the detectors is maintained to an acceptable level while controlling the temperature rise on the breast surface during scanning.

Abstract: An apparatus for breast scanning to obtain functional and anatomical images of the breast comprises a patient support for a patient to rest in a prone position, the support having an opening with one of her breasts vertically pendent through the opening for scanning; a laser CT scanner disposed below the support for generating a first set of data for reconstruction of functional images of the breast; an X-ray CT scanner disposed below the support for generating a second set of data for reconstruction of anatomical images of the breast; and a display to visualize at least one of the functional and anatomical images.

Abstract: An apparatus for acquiring time-resolved measurements from a sample from optical scanning comprises pulsed laser light directed to the sample; a first detector disposed to detect the light after exiting from the sample, the detected light being in the form of a first temporal point spread function (TPSF); a first amplifier to amplify the first TPSF; a first analog-to-digital converted (ADC) to directly digitize the first TPSF; a first buffer connected to the first ADC; a time-pickoff detector to initiate the first ADC to digitize the first TPSF; a clock burst generator initiated by the time-pickoff detector to provide conversion timing to the first ADC; and a computer programmed to fit the digitized first TPSF to a theoretical curve to extract its amplitude, and attenuation and scattering coefficients.