This pilot study will enroll three patients who have chosen to proceed with deep inferior epigastric perforator (DIEP) flap breast reconstruction. This type of reconstruction uses skin and fat from the abdomen to reconstruct a new breast shape. The construct is vascularized through perforating arteries and veins that provide a blood supply to this tissue.
Current techniques to evaluate vessel selection rely on a handheld Doppler used for confirmation of blood flow and perfusion; however, this modality is limited as it only assesses a specific point within the flap.
The S-FLARE imaging system will be used to visualize vascularization in the DIEP flaps, and this study will compare measurements by the S-FLARE imaging system and the standard-of-care ViOptix point probe.
