Sun Y, Sy MY, Wang YXJ, Ahuja AT, Zhang YT, Pickwell-MacPherson E. A promising diagnostic method: Terahertz pulsed imaging and spectroscopy. World J Radiol 2011; 3(3): 55-65 [PMID: 21512652 DOI: 10.4329/wjr.v3.i3.55]
Corresponding Author of This Article
Dr. Emma Pickwell-MacPherson, Department of Electronic and Computer Engineering, Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, Hong Kong, China. eeemma@ust.hk
Article-Type of This Article
Editorial
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World J Radiol. Mar 28, 2011; 3(3): 55-65 Published online Mar 28, 2011. doi: 10.4329/wjr.v3.i3.55
A promising diagnostic method: Terahertz pulsed imaging and spectroscopy
Yiwen Sun, Ming Yiu Sy, Yi-Xiang J Wang, Anil T Ahuja, Yuan-Ting Zhang, Emma Pickwell-MacPherson
Yiwen Sun, Ming Yiu Sy, Yuan-ting Zhang, Department of Electronic Engineering, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China
Yi-Xiang J Wang, Anil T Ahuja, Department of Imaging and Interventional Radiology, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China
Yuan-Ting Zhang, The Institute of Biomedical and Health Engineering, Shenzhen Instituted of Advanced Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shenzhen 518000, Guangdong Province, China
Yuan-Ting Zhang, Key Laboratory for Biomedical Informatics and Health Engineering, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shenzhen 518000, Guangdong Province, China
Emma Pickwell-MacPherson, Department of Electronic and Computer Engineering, Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, Hong Kong, China
Author contributions: Wang YXJ gave the idea of the paper was given; Sun Y, Sy MY and Pickwell-MacPherson E collected the data presented; all authors were involved in writing and editing the paper.
Supported by in part for this work from the Research Grants Council of the Hong Kong Government and the Shun Hing Institute of Advanced Engineering, Hong Kong
Correspondence to: Dr. Emma Pickwell-MacPherson, Department of Electronic and Computer Engineering, Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, Hong Kong, China. eeemma@ust.hk
Telephone: +852-23585034 Fax: +852-23581485
Received: November 18, 2010 Revised: January 19, 2010 Accepted: January 26, 2010 Published online: March 28, 2011
Abstract
The terahertz band lies between the microwave and infrared regions of the electromagnetic spectrum. This radiation has very low photon energy and thus it does not pose any ionization hazard for biological tissues. It is strongly attenuated by water and very sensitive to water content. Unique absorption spectra due to intermolecular vibrations in this region have been found in different biological materials. These unique features make terahertz imaging very attractive for medical applications in order to provide complimentary information to existing imaging techniques. There has been an increasing interest in terahertz imaging and spectroscopy of biologically related applications within the last few years and more and more terahertz spectra are being reported. This paper introduces terahertz technology and provides a short review of recent advances in terahertz imaging and spectroscopy techniques, and a number of applications such as molecular spectroscopy, tissue characterization and skin imaging are discussed.
