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Terahertz (THz) pulsed spectroscopy is a convenient instrument for studying the THz dielectric response of healthy and abnormal tissue in a wide spectral range. One of the most promising applications of THz pulsed spectroscopy is associated with non-invasive, least-invasive and intraoperative medical diagnostics of malignancies in various localizations, including the skin, the breast, the colon, and the brain [1].
In our research, we developed a method for reconstructing the THz dielectric response of biotissues in vitro and in vivo using the THz pulsed spectroscopy [2–5]. We applied this method for studying healthy and pathological tissues of the skin and the brain.
(i) We observed statistical differences between THz dielectric properties of ordinary and dysplastic nevi of the skin in vivo. This highlights an ability for non-invasive early diagnosis of dysplastic nevi and melanomas of the skin using the THz spectroscopy and imaging [3–5].
(ii) By studying the THz dielectric permittivity of non-melanoma skin cancers in vitro (i.e. basal cell carcinoma and squamous cell carcinoma), we justify an ability for discriminating malignant tissues from surrounding normal skin using preoperative and intraoperative THz imaging [6,7].
(iii) Finally, the results of measuring the THz dielectric response of gelatin-fixed malignancies of the brain in vitro allow us to analyze an ability for discriminating brain gliomas from surrounding normal tissues during the neurosurgery using the THz technologies.
The observed results of THz measurements agrees well with the data of biotissues studying using other modern modalities of optical imaging, such as intraoperative exogenous fluorescence imaging and optical coherence tomography, as well as with the data of biotissue histology. These results highlight the prospective of THz spectroscopy, imaging and endoscopy use for non-invasive, least-invasive and intraoperative medical diagnosis of malignancies.
[1] O.A. Smolyanskaya,·M.M. Nazarov,·O.P. Cherkasova,·J.-P. Guillet,·J.-L. Coutaz, A.A. Konovko, Y.V.Kistenev,·P. Mounaix, I.A. Ozheredov, V.L. Vaks, A. Yaroslavsky,·N.V. Chernomyrdin, K.I. Zaytsev, S.A. Kozlov,·J.-H. Son, V. Wallace,·A.P. Shkurinov, ·V.V. Tuchin, “Terahertz biophotonics as a tool for studies of dielectricand spectral properties of tissues and bioliquids relatedto water content,” Progress in Quantum Electronics (2017, Submitted).
[2] IEEE Transactions on Terahertz Science and Technology 5(5), 817 (2015).
[3] Applied Physics Letters 106(5), 053702 (2015)
[4] European Journal of Cancer 51, S167 (2015).
[5] Optics and Spectroscopy 119(3), 404 (2015).
[6] Journal of Physics: Conference Series 486(1), 012014 (2014).
[7] Journal of Physics: Conference Series 584(1), 012023 (2015).
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