Terahertz (THz) imaging, well known to air travelers, promises also to be able to see at a shallow depth into the skin to spot cancer. One benefit of THz is that it is non-ionizing and is therefore probably safe for routine use, while another is that it has already been shown that THz radiation is absorbed more readily by cancer cells.
There are a number of compressed sensing and adaptive algorithms in existence that speed up THz imaging, but these fail to work in many cases. The current state of THz imaging is that it can be used to spot cancer, but the tumor would already be too large. Earlier detection of skin cancer is key, so having higher resolution imaging is critical to the wider adoption of THz imaging.
Researchers from the University of Exeter and University of Glasgow in the U.K. have developed a type of near-field terahertz imaging that works with such algorithms and allows for an imaging resolution down to nine microns. The development may allow for high resolution imaging of the skin to identify cancer early without having to take a biopsy sample.
Study in journal Optica: Compressed sensing with near-field THz radiation…
Via: Optical Society…