The LUCA device: a multi-modal platform combining diffuse optics and ultrasound imaging for thyroid cancer screening

We present the LUCA device, a multi-modal platform combining eight-wavelengthnear infrared time resolved spectroscopy, sixteen-channel diffuse correlation spectroscopy and a clinical ultrasound in a single device. By simultaneously measuring the tissue hemodynamics and performing ultrasound imaging, this platform aims to tackle the low specificity and sensitivit yof the current thyroid cancer diagnosis techniques, improving the screening of thyroid nodules.Here, we show a detailed description of the device, components and modules. Furthermore,we show the device tests performed through well established protocols for phantom validation,and the performance assessment forin vivo. The characterization tests demonstrate that LUCA device is capable of performing high quality measurements, with a precision in determining invivo tissue optical and dynamic properties of better than 3%, and a reproducibility of better than10% after ultrasound-guided probe repositioning, even with low photon count-rates, making it suitable for a wide variety of clinical applications.