Diffuse optics in lactation research
Ana Boamfa (TNW-BMPI), Thomas O’Sullivan (University of Notre Dame, US), Nienke Bosschaart (TNW-BMPI)
Abstract
Breastfeeding provides widely recognized advantages for infant and maternal health. Unfortunately, many women experience trouble with breastfeeding. Nevertheless, few suitable imaging modalities are available to study human lactation and determine the possible causes of breastfeeding problems.
We apply broadband, quantitative diffuse optical spectroscopy (DOS), to study the lactating breast. DOS is a non-invasive imaging technique that provides information about breast tissue composition using red to near-infrared light. Through our research, we aim to expand the understanding of lactating breast physiology and its relation to milk transfer. This knowledge could potentially be used to identify anomalies in breast physiology that play a role in lactation problems, in particular lactation insufficiency.
In this study, we evaluate the sensitivity of DOS to changes in lactating breast physiology. We present a study of fourteen lactating and eight similarly aged, premenopausal, non-lactating women to investigate the optical and physiological differences between 1) lactating and non-lactating breasts, 2) the areolar and non-areolar region within the breast, and 3) lactating breasts before and after milk extraction. Our findings demonstrate that DOS is sensitive and consistent to the expected changes in physiology of the lactating breast and therefore can be used further in lactation research.
In future research we will focus on the application of DOS to study the dynamic changes in breast physiology during milk extraction, as well as the development of the breast during pregnancy, lactation and post-lactation involution.