Репозиторий Университета

© 2018 Elsevier Ltd In this review, we describe dielectric properties of biological tissues and liquids in the context of terahertz (THz) biophotonics. We discuss a model of the THz dielectric permittivity of water and water-containing media, which yields analysis of the relaxation and damped resonant molecules modes. We briefly describe modern techniques of THz spectroscopy and imaging employed in biophotonics with a strong emphasize on a THz time-domain spectroscopy. Furthermore, we consider the methods of sub-wavelength resolution THz imaging and the problem of THz wave delivery to hard to access tissues and internal organs. We consider the THz dielectric properties of biological solutions and liquids. Although strong absorption by water molecules prevents THz-waves from penetration of hydrated tissues and probing biological molecules in aqueous solutions, we discuss approaches for overcoming these drawbacks – novel techniques of freezing and temporal dehydration by application of hyperosmotic agents which have a potential for cancer detection. We review recent applications of THz technology in diagnosis of malignancies and aiding histology paying particular attention to the origin of contrast observed between healthy and pathological tissues. We consider recent applications of THz reflectometry in sensing the thinning dynamics of human pre-corneal tear film. Modern modalities of THz imaging, which relies on the concepts of multi-spectral and multi-temporal domains and employing the principles of color vision, phase analysis and tomography are discussed. Novel methods of THz spectra analysis based on machine learning, pattern recognition, chemical imaging and the revealing of the spatial distribution of various substances in a tissue, are analyzed. Advanced thermal model describing biological object irradiated by THz waves and phantoms mimicking the optical properties of tissues at THz frequencies are presented. Finally, application of the high-resolution THz spectroscopy in analytic chemistry, biology and medicine are described.

© 2018 IEEE. We have proposed an approach to improve the resolution of terahertz (THz) imaging using the effect of solid immersion - i.e. a reduction in the dimensions of the electromagnetic beam caustic by its formation in a free space, behind the medium possessing high refractive index. We have designed a THz solid immersion lens (SIL) comprised of a polymer wide-aperture aspherical singlet and a crystalline truncated sphere mounted in front of the image plane. We have proposed an approach for the object handling at the focal plane of the THz SIL. We have combined numerical simulations and experimental studies to demonstrate the advanced 0.2λ spatial resolution of the proposed THz SIL - it is beyond the 0.5λ Abbe limit. Finally, we have assembled the continuous-wave THz SIL imaging system and applied it for studying various objects with sub-wavelength variations of structure and dielectric properties.

© 2018 IEEE. We study both theoretically and experimentally an ability for shaping the spectra of the terahertz (THz) pulses, emitted by a photoconductive antennas (PCAs) with the logspiral configuration of electrodes, by impedance matching. We select and fabricate 2 configurations of the LT-GaAs PCAs possessing different frequency-dependent impedances and THz spectra. By comparing the results of our studies, we firstly demonstrate high-to-moderate correlation between the frequency-dependent impedance matching efficiency and the THz spectra. The proposed approach makes possible optimizing the PCA performance for accommodating the needs of the THz technology use in various branches, especially in condensed matter and biomedicine.

© 2018 IEEE. Modern laser technologies have a wide range of scientific, commercial, medical and other applications. In medicine, lasers are used both for diagnostic, therapeutic, and surgical purposes. Safety of laser radiation in assisted reproductive technologies is discussed in the paper. Efficiency of using femtosecond (fs) laser pulses to perform noncontact embryo biopsy as well as laser-assisted hatching is shown. First results on femtosecond laser marking on the surface of embryo outer shell for individual embryo tagging are also presented. Question of safety of THz radiation for living objects (starting at the cellular level and ending with the organism in whole) is still a matter of controversy and requires further study. Experimental study of high-power THz pulses effect on living 2D cell culture is presented. MSC cells are exposed to multiple (from 80 to 100) THz pulses with intensities up to 1 MV/cm. No short-term damage effects are observed during first hours post cell irradiation.

© 2018 IEEE. In our work, we have performed in vitro terahertz (THz) measurements of gelatin-embedded malignant human brain gliomas using the THz pulsed spectroscopy. The gelatin embedding yields sustain the THz response of tissues close to that of the freshly-excised ones for a long time after the resection. We have observed significant differences between the THz responses of normal and pathological tissues of the brain, which highlights a potential of the THz technology in label-free intraoperative neurodiagnosis of tumors.

© 2018 IEEE. We have proposed a method of THz solid immersion microscopy, which yields imaging soft biological tissues with the sub-wavelength resolution up to 0.2-wavelengths. To achieve this advanced resolution, it employs a solid immersion phenomenon - i.e. a reduction in the dimensions of the THz beam caustic by its formation on a small distance behind the medium featuring high refractive index. We have assembled an experimental setup, which realizes the principles of the THz solid immersion microscopy, and proposed an approach for handling the soft tissue at the object plane. This setup uses a backward-wave oscillator, as a source of continuous-wave THz radiation, and a Golay cell, as a detector of the THz field intensity. We have examined the resolution of the THz solid immersion microscopy using both numerical simulations and experimental studies. Finally, in order to highlight the prospective of the proposed THz imaging modality, we have applied the experimental setup for imaging of representative examples of biological tissues.

© 2018 IEEE. Modern progress in terahertz (THz) diagnostics of malignancies, including non-invasive, least-invasive and intraoperative techniques is briefly discussed. Special attention is paid to intraoperative diagnosis of brain tumors, which is a rapidly developing field nowadays. We discuss our recent results in this research field, which are associated with (i) in vitro studies the THz dielectric response of gelatin-embedded human brain tumors (including gliomas and meningiomas featuring different grades), (ii) analysis an ability for differentiation between normal and pathological tissues of the brain relying on the methods of THz spectroscopy and imaging, and, finally, (iii) development of novel THz instrumentation for the intraoperative detection of margins of tumors in order to guarantee its gross total resection.

© 2018 IEEE. In this paper, we propose a computational approach for description of radiation transfer in a quasi-ordered medium and study the impact of scattering on electromagnetic wave propagation and image formation. It combines finite-difference time-domain method, Monte Carlo simulations, and radiative transfer theory. Using, as an example, terahertz (THz) imaging, we analyze the modulation transfer function (MTF) of the imaging system operated at 0.25 THz for scattering material layers placed between the object and the imaging plane. We experimentally study imaging of bar-pattern test objects through a quasi-ordered scattering medium. Both numerical and experimental results are in good agreement and demonstrate an impact of quasi-ordered scatterers on quality of THz images, i.e., particular combination of the electromagnetic wavelength and parameters of scattering materials could enhance MTF compared with ones with random particle structures.

© 2018 SPIE.  We have investigated the influence of indium content (x) increase on spectral characteristics of In x Ga 1-x As photoconductor. To avoid the mismatch between crystalline parameters of In x Ga 1-x As and GaAs wafer we proposed to incorporate a step-graded metamorphic buffer layer. We showed that x increase strongly enhances THz emission and broadens THz spectrum of In x Ga 1-x As. Since no polarity rehearsal of the THz waveform occurs and electron diffusion mobility increases up to 90% with x increase we attribute the increase of THz intensity to photo-Dember effect contribution. The maximum efficiency of optical-to-THz conversion was obtained for In 0.72 Ga 0.28 As at optical fluence ∼0.01 μJ=cm 2 . The fabricated photoconductors can be used as promising photo-Dember or lateral photo-Dember THz emitters in pulsed THz spectroscopy and imaging, in particular, operating with long wave optical pump.

© 2018 SPIE. Application of terahertz (THz) spectroscopy for biological tissues is strongly limited by the extremely low penetration depth due to THz absorption by tissue water. One of the possible solution of such problem is the usage of THz wave penetration-enhancing agents (PEA) for optical clearing of tissues. In the present paper, the transmission-mode THz spectroscopy of a set of PEAs (polyethylene glycol with different molecular weight, propylene glycol, ethylene glycol, and dimethyl sulfoxide) was performed in order to reconstruct their dielectric properties and compare them with that of water. The obtained results emphasize the feasibility of using PEG to enhance the depth of THz wave penetration into tissues.

© COPYRIGHT SPIE. Downloading of the abstract is permitted for personal use only. We have developed a method of the terahertz (THz) solid immersion microscopy for the reflection-mode imaging of soft biological tissues. It relies on the use of the solid immersion lens (SIL), which employs the electromagnetic wave focusing into the evanescent-field volume (i.e. at a small distance behind the medium possessing high refractive index) and yields reduction in the dimensions of the THz beam caustic. We have assembled an experimental setup using a backward-wave oscillator, as a source of the continuous-wave THz radiation featuring λ= 500 μm, a Golay cell, as a detector of the THz wave intensity, and a THz SIL comprised of a wide-aperture aspherical singlet, a truncated sphere and a thin scanning windows. The truncated sphere and the scanning window are made of high-resistivity float-zone silicon and form a unitary optical element mounted in front of the object plane for the resolution enhancement. The truncated sphere is rigidly fixed, while the scanning window moves in lateral directions, allowing for handling and visualizing the soft tissues. We have applied the experimental setup for imaging of a razor blade to demonstrate the advanced 0:2λ resolution of the proposed imaging arrangement. Finally, we have performed imaging of sub-wavelength-scale tissue spheroids to highlight potential of the THz solid immersion microscopy in biology and medicine.

© COPYRIGHT SPIE. Downloading of the abstract is permitted for personal use only. We have performed the in vitro terahertz (THz) spectroscopy of human brain tumors. In order to fix tissues for the THz measurements, we have applied the gelatin embedding. It allows for preserving tissues from hydration/dehydration and sustaining their THz response similar to that of the freshly-excised tissues for a long time after resection. We have assembled an experimental setup for the reflection-mode measurements of human brain tissues based on the THz pulsed spectrometer. We have used this setup to study in vitro the refractive index and the amplitude absorption coefficient of 2 samples of malignant glioma (grade IV), 1 sample of meningioma (grade I), and samples of intact tissues. We have observed significant differences between the THz responses of normal and pathological tissues of the brain. The results of this paper highlight the potential of the THz technology in the intraoperative neurodiagnosis of tumors relying on the endogenous labels of tumorous tissues.