Fabrication and characterization of biotissue-mimicking phantoms in the THz frequency range

Abstract The study revealed the most promising candidates for phantoms mimicking different biological tissues in the terahertz frequency range. Closest to biological tissues in terms of the refractive index appeared to be gelatin-based gels; in terms of the absorption coefficient they were agar-based gels. Gelatin is more stable in time, but requires special storage conditions to limit water evaporation. The dense structure of the agar-based phantom allows its use without mold and risk of damage. However, agar is a nutrient medium for bacteria and its parameters degrade even when the phantom form and water content are retained. Use of liquid suspensions of lecithin and milk powder are found to be extremely limited

Gastrointestinal cancer diagnostics by terahertz time domain spectroscopy

Abstract Samples of fresh excised tissues obtained from patients who had undergone gastric cancer have been investigated. Samples consisted of cancer zone, normal zone and pathologically changed zone. Their optical properties and spectral features were investigated by terahertz time-domain spectroscopy (THz-TDS) in reflection mode. It was found that waveforms of reflected signals from normal and cancer tissues and their optical properties were well distinguished, so it can be concluded that it is possible to discriminate gastric cancer tissue from normal by using THz-TDS

Towards non-invasive reflection measurement of water content in biotissue by means of terahertz timedomain spectroscopy

Abstract We apply terahertz time-domain spectroscopy for the quantitative non-invasive assessment of water content in biological samples: tree leafs and pork muscles. The Landau-Looyenga-Lifshitz-based model is used for the calculation of water concentration within the samples. The obtained results show that water content in biological samples can be measured utilizing terahertz waves in transmission and reflection modes