Patent ID: 8244332

Claim:
A diffuse optical spectroscopy system, comprising: a tracking device including a first member and a second member; a handheld probe including an avalanche photodiode (APD) for detecting optical properties of tissues in a region of interest of a patient and the first member of the tracking device communicating with the second member for determining locations of the handheld probe relative to the region of interest; and a processor operable to generate at least a two-dimensional representation using data of the optical properties and data of the determined locations of the handheld probe relative to the region of interest, wherein the data of the optical properties includes at least two of volume fractions of water, lipid, deoxygenated hemoglobin and oxygenated hemoglobin, generate a color-coded surface in the two-dimensional representation, wherein the color-coded surface displays measured quantities corresponding to the at least two volume fractions and the measured quantities are displayed using different colors, register serial images of the optical properties in the region of interest based on the determined locations, and reconstruct a position and a size of a tumor below a surface in the region of interest of a later serial image using the registration of the serial images based on the determined locations.