This application describes a
medical device (230) for obtaining optical tissue properties of a target material. The
medical device (230) comprises an elongated body (231) having a longitudinal axis (232) and an
optical fiber being integrated within the elongated body (231). The
optical fiber has a second
fiber end (242, 242a, 242b), which is arranged at a side wall (233) of the elongated body (231) and which provides a
lateral field of view with respect to the longitudinal axis (232). According to an embodiment many optical fibers are integrated each having an optical outlet (242, 242a, 242b) around the elongated body (231). Using the outlets (242, 242a, 242b) to do diffuse
optical tomography and also use optical fibers to do an optical inspection, one can get information on the presence of tumors in a volume around the
medical device (230) and a
tissue characterization in the vicinity of the medical device (230). Thereby, an optical
biopsy may be carried out, wherein no real tissue is removed. According to another embodiment an optical detection
system is integrated into a real
biopsy needle (330) allowing inspection and taking real
biopsy simultaneously.