THz Medical Imaging: in vivo Hydration Sensing

Zachary D Taylor; Rahul S Singh; David B Bennett; Priyamvada Tewari; Colin P Kealey; Neha Bajwa; Martin O Culjat; Alexander Stojadinovic; Hua Lee; Jean-Pierre Hubschman; Elliott R Brown; Warren S Grundfest

doi:10.1109/TTHZ.2011.2159551

THz Medical Imaging: in vivo Hydration Sensing

IEEE Trans Terahertz Sci Technol. 2011 Sep;1(1):201-219. doi: 10.1109/TTHZ.2011.2159551.

Authors

Affiliations

¹ Department of Bioengineering and the Center for Advanced Surgical and Interventional Technology (CASIT), University of California at Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA 90095 USA ( zdeis@seas.ucla.edu ).
² Department of Bioengineering, Department of Surgery, and the Center for Advanced Surgical and Interventional Technology (CASIT), University of California at Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA 90095 USA.
³ Department of Electrical Engineering and the Center for Advanced Surgical and Interventional Technology (CASIT), University of California at Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA 90095 USA.
⁴ Department of Bioengineering and the Center for Advanced Surgical and Interventional Technology (CASIT), University of California at Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA 90095 USA.
⁵ Department of Surgery and the Center for Advanced Surgical and Interventional Technology (CASIT), University of California at Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA 90095 USA.
⁶ Department of Surgery, Walter Reed Army Medical Center and the Combat Wound Initiative Program, Washington, DC 20307 USA.
⁷ Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of California at Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara, CA 93106 USA.
⁸ Department of Ophthalmology, University of California at Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA 90095 USA.
⁹ Department of Physics, Wright State University, Dayton, OH 45435 USA.
¹⁰ Department of Electrical Engineering, Department of Bioengineering, Department of Surgery, and the Center for Advanced Surgical and Interventional Technology (CASIT), University of California at Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA 90095 USA.

Abstract

The application of THz to medical imaging is experiencing a surge in both interest and federal funding. A brief overview of the field is provided along with promising and emerging applications and ongoing research. THz imaging phenomenology is discussed and tradeoffs are identified. A THz medical imaging system, operating at ~525 GHz center frequency with ~125 GHz of response normalized bandwidth is introduced and details regarding principles of operation are provided. Two promising medical applications of THz imaging are presented: skin burns and cornea. For burns, images of second degree, partial thickness burns were obtained in rat models in vivo over an 8 hour period. These images clearly show the formation and progression of edema in and around the burn wound area. For cornea, experimental data measuring the hydration of ex vivo porcine cornea under drying is presented demonstrating utility in ophthalmologic applications.

Keywords: Biological and medical imaging; THz; Terahertz; clinical instruments; hydration interactions; medical diagnostics; submillimeter.

Abstract

Grants and funding