Origin and quantification of differences between normal and tumor tissues observed by terahertz spectroscopy.

The origin of the differences in the refractive index observed between normal and tumor tissues using terahertz spectroscopy has been described quantitatively. To estimate water content differences in tissues, we prepared fresh and paraffin-embedded samples from rats. An approximately 5% increase of water content in tumor tissues was calculated from terahertz time domain spectroscopy measurements compared to normal tissues.

Brain tumor imaging of rat fresh tissue using terahertz spectroscopy.

Tumor imaging by terahertz spectroscopy of fresh tissue without dye is demonstrated using samples from a rat glioma model. The complex refractive index spectrum obtained by a reflection terahertz time-domain spectroscopy system can discriminate between normal and tumor tissues. Both the refractive index and absorption coefficient of tumor tissues are higher than those of normal tissues and can be attributed to the higher cell density and water content of the tumor region.