Single-channel prototype terahertz endoscopic system

We demonstrate the design and development of an innovative single-channel terahertz (THz) prototype endoscopic imaging system based on flexible metal-coated THz waveguides and a polarization specific detection technique. The continuous-wave (CW) THz imaging system utilizes a single channel to transm...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inJournal of biomedical optics Vol. 19; no. 8; p. 080501
Main Authors Doradla, Pallavi, Alavi, Karim, Joseph, Cecil, Giles, Robert
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published United States Society of Photo-Optical Instrumentation Engineers 01.08.2014
Subjects
Cancer
Colonic Neoplasms - pathology
Colonoscopes
Endoscopes
Equipment Design
Equipment Failure Analysis
Humans
Image Enhancement - methods
Imaging
Lasers
Lenses
Pilot Projects
Polarization
Prototypes
Reflectance
Reflectivity
Reproducibility of Results
Sensitivity and Specificity
Surface Plasmon Resonance - instrumentation
Terahertz Imaging - instrumentation
Waveguides
colon tissues
cancer detection
polarization
terahertz
endoscope
medical imaging
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Summary:We demonstrate the design and development of an innovative single-channel terahertz (THz) prototype endoscopic imaging system based on flexible metal-coated THz waveguides and a polarization specific detection technique. The continuous-wave (CW) THz imaging system utilizes a single channel to transmit and collect the reflected intrinsic THz signal from the sample. Since the prototype system relies on a flexible waveguide assembly that is small enough in diameter, it can be readily integrated with a conventional optical endoscope. This study aims to show the feasibility of waveguide enabled THz imaging. We image various objects in transmission and reflection modes. We also image normal and cancerous colonic tissues in reflectance mode using a polarization specific imaging technique. The resulting cross-polarized THz reflectance images showed contrast between normal and cancerous colonic tissues at 584 GHz. The level of contrast observed using endoscopic imaging correlates well with contrast levels observed in ex vivo THz reflectance studies of colon cancer. This indicates that the single-channel flexible waveguide-based THz endoscope presented here represents a significant step forward in clinical endoscopic application of THz technology to aid in in vivo cancer screening.
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ISSN:1083-3668
1560-2281
DOI:10.1117/1.JBO.19.8.080501