Doradla Pallavi, Joseph Cecil, Giles Robert H
Pallavi Doradla, Wellman Center for Photomedicine, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02114, United States.
World J Gastrointest Endosc. 2017 Aug 16;9(8):346-358. doi: 10.4253/wjge.v9.i8.346.
Terahertz (THz) imaging is progressing as a robust platform for myriad applications in the field of security, health, and material science. The THz regime, which comprises wavelengths spanning from microns to millimeters, is non-ionizing and has very low photon energy: Making it inherently safe for biological imaging. Colorectal cancer is one of the most common causes of death in the world, while the conventional screening and standard of care yet relies exclusively on the physician's experience. Researchers have been working on the development of a flexible THz endoscope, as a potential tool to aid in colorectal cancer screening. This involves building a single-channel THz endoscope, and profiling the THz response from colorectal tissue, and demonstrating endogenous contrast levels between normal and diseased tissue when imaging in reflection modality. The current level of contrast provided by the prototype THz endoscopic system represents a significant step towards clinical endoscopic application of THz technology for in-vivo colorectal cancer screening. The aim of this paper is to provide a short review of the recent advances in THz endoscopic technology and cancer imaging. In particular, the potential of single-channel THz endoscopic imaging for colonic cancer screening will be highlighted.
太赫兹（THz）成像作为一种强大的平台，正在安全、健康和材料科学领域的众多应用中不断发展。太赫兹波段的波长范围从微米到毫米，是非电离的，光子能量非常低，这使得它对生物成像具有内在的安全性。结直肠癌是全球最常见的死亡原因之一，而传统的筛查和护理标准仍然完全依赖于医生的经验。研究人员一直在致力于开发一种柔性太赫兹内窥镜，作为辅助结直肠癌筛查的潜在工具。这包括构建单通道太赫兹内窥镜，分析结直肠组织的太赫兹响应，并在反射模式成像时展示正常组织和病变组织之间的内源性对比度水平。原型太赫兹内窥镜系统目前提供的对比度水平代表了太赫兹技术在体内结直肠癌筛查临床内窥镜应用方面迈出的重要一步。本文的目的是对太赫兹内窥镜技术和癌症成像的最新进展进行简要综述。特别是，将突出单通道太赫兹内窥镜成像在结肠癌筛查中的潜力。
