Detection of colon cancer by terahertz techniques

Human normal and cancer affected samples of colon tissue have been measured using transmission time-domain terahertz spectroscopy and continuous wave terahertz imaging. We show that it is possible to distinguish between normal and cancerous regions in the samples when they a:e fixed in formalin or embedded in paraffin. The still noticeable contrast in the dried paraffin-embedded tissues could indicate that there are additional contrast-contributing factors other than water, which is the main goal of the present work. Plots of the refractive index of normal and cancer affected tissues as well as 2-D transmission THz images are shown. Experimental results are presented and the conditions for discrimination between normal and affected formalin-fixed and paraffin-embedded tissue are discussed. (C) 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.