Application of Terahertz Spectroscopy and Imaging in the Diagnosis of Prostate Cancer

Zhang, Ping, Shuncong Zhong, Junxi Zhang, Jian Ding, Zhenxiang Liu, Yi Huang, Ning Zhou, Walter Nsengiyumva, and Tianfu Zhang. "Application of Terahertz Spectroscopy and Imaging in the Diagnosis of Prostate Cancer." Current Optics and Photonics 4, no. 1 (2020): 31-43.

Abstract

The feasibility of the application of terahertz electromagnetic waves in the diagnosis of prostate cancer was examined. Four samples of incomplete cancerous prostatic paraffin-embedded tissues were examined using terahertz spectral imaging (TPI) system and the results obtained by comparing the absorption coefficient and refractive index of prostate tumor, normal prostate tissue and smooth muscle from one of the paraffin tissue masses examined were reported. Three hundred and sixty cases of absorption coefficients from one of the paraffin tissues examined were used as raw data to classify these three tissues using the Principal Component Analysis (PCA) and Least Squares Support Vector Machine (LS-SVM). An excellent classification with an accuracy of 92.22% in the prediction set was achieved. Using the distribution information of THz reflection signal intensity from sample surface and absorption coefficient of the sample, an attempt was made to use the TPI system to identify the boundaries of the different tissues involved (prostate tumors, normal and smooth muscles). The location of three identified regions in the terahertz images (frequency domain slice absorption coefficient imaging, 1.2 THz) were compared with those obtained from the histopathologic examination. The tissue tumor region had a distinctively visible color and could well be distinguished from other tissue regions in terahertz images. Results indicate that a THz spectroscopy imaging system can be efficiently used in conjunction with the proposed advanced computer-based mathematical analysis method to identify tumor regions in the paraffin tissue mass of prostate cancer.

for full paper see https://www.osapublishing.org/copp/abstract.cfm?uri=copp-4-1-31

Terahertz Imaging and Spectroscopy Data Acquisition 

All prostate tissue were tested using a TPI system (TeraPulse 4000, TeraView, Cambridge, England) operating in Reflection Spectrum and Imaging Module (RIM). This module adopts a single-point scanning imaging method. A raster-scanning system that changes the position of the sample through a mobile station in an X-Y plane was used, which allowed the terahertz radiation to pass through the individual points of the sample to be measured. The maximum size of the sample that the system can scan is 20 mm * 20 mm, and the minimum scanning step is 0.1 mm. The axial resolution of our TPI system used is around 30 microns and the maximum lateral resolution is around 250 microns. In this study, the scanning area of the sample was about 15 * 5 mm, the resolution of each point was 0.2 mm, and the diameter of the terahertz spot at the focal point is 0.2 mm