A diagnostic test evaluation: dynamic optical functional imaging system for early-stage breast cancer detection

The DOBI system had both a high SEN (95.96%) and a high NPV (97.63%), as well as an acceptable SPE (74.66%). This suggests that it has the potential to serve as a supplementary diagnostic method for the detection of breast cancer. The study also showed that combining the DOBI system with conventional imaging modalities (e.g., US or MG) could significantly reduce false-negative (FN) and false-positive (FP) breast cancer diagnoses. As a radiation-free, low-cost functional imaging tool, DOBI shows potential as a triage test to reduce unnecessary biopsies (FP reduction: US 52→15, MG 16→3) and prevent missed diagnoses (FN elimination: US 5→0, MG 9→0) when combined with conventional imaging. Multicenter validation is warranted given single-center design limitations.