Transillumination is the shining of a bright light through a body cavity or organ for diagnostic purposes. Transilllumination can be used on the head, scrotum, or chest in the premature or newborn infant, or the breast in an adult female.
Review Date:
11/14/2007
Reviewed By:
Deirdre O’Reilly, MD, MPH, Neonatologist, Division of Newborn Medicine, Children’s Hospital Boston and Instructor in Pediatrics, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts.