通過聯合使用兩種技術，核磁共振(MRI)和近紅外光學，研究人員設計了一種更加有效的診斷乳腺癌的新方法。

這種新技術使用MRI生成乳腺影像，提供其結構方面的信息，包括形狀和構成。這種近紅外光學技術提供了組織如何發揮功能方面的數據，例如某個區域是否包含大量血液，是否象早期腫瘤一種快速消耗氧氣。美國Dartmouth學院醫學院(Hanover, NH, USA)的研究人員，希望了解這種雙重程序是否能夠在活檢之前就能夠發現組織是否惡變。他們的小規模研究證實了這種可能，研究結果發表在2007年4月15日的《光學通訊》期刊之上。
 
Combined MRI-Optics Technique Provides Breast Cancer Diagnosis
 
By combining two techniques, magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and near-infrared optics, researchers may have designed a new, potentially more effective method for diagnosing breast cancer.

The new technique utilizes MRI to produce an image of the breast, providing information on its structure, including shape and composition. The near-infrared light technique provides data on how the tissue is functioning, such as, whether a region contains a large amount of blood and is rapidly consuming oxygen as early tumors typically do. The researchers, from Dartmouth College Medical School (Hanover, NH, USA), are hoping this dual-procedure approach will be a vital application to learning which tissues are malignant before performing a biopsy. Their pilot study, demonstrating the feasibility of the concept, was published in the April 15, 2007, issue of the journal Optics Letters.