Department of Medical Physics and Bioengineering, University College London, London WC1E 6BT, UK.
Phys Med Biol. 2010 Aug 21;55(16):4825-38. doi: 10.1088/0031-9155/55/16/013. Epub 2010 Aug 3.
The use of THz radiation as a potential tool for medical imaging is of increasing interest. In this paper three methods of analysis of THz spectroscopic information for diagnosis of tissue pathologies at THz frequencies are presented. The frequency-dependent absorption coefficients, refractive indices and Debye relaxation times of pure water and pure lipids were measured and used as prior knowledge in the different theoretical methods for the determination of concentration. Three concentration analysis methods were investigated: (a) linear spectral decomposition, (b) spectrally averaged dielectric coefficient method and (c) the Debye relaxation coefficient method. These methods were validated on water and lipid emulsions by determining the concentrations of phantom chromophores and comparing to the known composition. The accuracy and resolution of each method were determined to assess the potential of each method as a tool for medical diagnosis at THz frequencies.
太赫兹辐射作为一种潜在的医学成像工具越来越受到关注。本文提出了三种分析太赫兹光谱信息的方法，用于在太赫兹频率下诊断组织病变。测量了纯水和纯脂质的频率相关吸收系数、折射率和德拜弛豫时间，并将其用作不同理论方法中确定浓度的先验知识。研究了三种浓度分析方法：（a）线性光谱分解，（b）光谱平均介电系数法和（c）德拜弛豫系数法。通过测定幻影生色团的浓度并与已知组成进行比较，对水和脂质乳液进行了这些方法的验证。为了评估每种方法作为太赫兹频率下医学诊断工具的潜力，确定了每种方法的准确性和分辨率。
