Abstract
As THz waves interact with vibration and rotation transitions of organic molecules, they can be used to identify specific molecules based on their spectral features. In this way, THz technology can be used as a complement to other electromagnetic spectroscopy methods, such as visible and infrared. As THz photons have lower energy, they are unable to ionize biological samples under normal conditions. This makes THz spectroscopy an ideal tool for the examination of active biomedical samples. Due to the complexity of working with biological samples, biological applications are considered a mid- to long-term goal of THz research.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution.
Buying options
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Learn about institutional subscriptionsReferences
Y. C. Shen, P. C. Upadhya, H. Linfield, and A. Ga. Davies, “Temperature-dependent low-frequency vibrational spectra of purine and adenine,” Appl. Phys. Lett. 82, 2350 (2003).
M. R. Kutteruf, C. M. Brown, L. K. Iwaki, M. B. Campbell, T. M. Korter, and E. J. Heilweil, “Terahertz spectroscopy of short-chain polypeptides,” Chem. Phys. Lett. 375, 337 (2003).
A. G. Markelz, A. Roitberg, and E. J. Heilweil, “Pulsed terahertz spectroscopy of DNA, bovine serum albumin and collagen between 0.1 and 2.0 THz,” Chem. Phys. Lett. 320, 42 (2000).
M. Nagel, P. H. Bolivar, M. Brucherseifer, H. Kurz, A. Bosserhoff,, and R. Buttner, “Integrated THz technology for label-free genetic diagnostics,” Appl. Phys. Lett. 80, 154 (2002).
A. Xie, A. F. G. van der Meer, and R. H. Austin, “Excited-state lifetimes of far-infrared collective modes in proteins,” Phys. Rev. Lett. 88, 018102 (2002).
P. F. Taday, I. V. Bradley, D. D. Arnone, and M. Pepper, “Using terahertz pulse spectroscopy to study the crystalline structure of a drug: a case study of the polymorphs of ranitidine hydrochloride,” J. Pharm. Sci. 92, 831 (2003).
A. J. Fitzgerald, B. E. Cole, and P. F. Taday, “Nondestructive analysis of tablet coating thicknesses using terahertz pulsed imaging,” J. Pharm. Sci. 94, 177 (2006).
E. Pickwell, A. J. Fitzgerald, B. E. Cole, P. F. Taday, R. J. Pye, T. Ha, M. Pepper, and V. P. Wallace, “Simulating the response of terahertz radiation to basal cell carcinoma using ex vivo spectroscopy measurements,” J. Biomed. Opt. 10, 064021 (2005).
R. M. Woodward, B. E. Cole, V. P. Wallace, R. J. Pye, D. D. Arnone, E. H. Linfield, and M. Pepper, “Terahertz pulse imaging in reflection geometry of human skin cancer and skin tissue,” Phys. Med. Biol. 47, 3853 (2002).
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2010 Springer Science+Business Media, LLC
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Zhang, X.C., Xu, J. (2010). THz Technology in Bio and Medical Applications. In: Introduction to THz Wave Photonics. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4419-0978-7_10
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4419-0978-7_10
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Boston, MA
Print ISBN: 978-1-4419-0977-0
Online ISBN: 978-1-4419-0978-7
eBook Packages: EngineeringEngineering (R0)