Abstract
We demonstrated that tumors in freshly excised whole brain tissue could be differentiated clearly from normal brain tissue using a reflection-type terahertz (THz) imaging system. THz binary images of brain tissues with tumors indicated that the tumor boundaries in the THz images corresponded well to those in visible images. Grey and white-matter regions were distinguishable owing to the different distribution of myelin in the brain tissue. THz images corresponded closely with magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) results. The MRI and hematoxylin and eosin-stained microscopic images were investigated to account for the intensity differences in the THz images for fresh and paraffin-embedded brain tissue. Our results indicated that the THz signals corresponded to the cell density when water was removed. Thus, THz imaging could be used as a tool for label-free and real-time imaging of brain tumors, which would be helpful for physicians to determine tumor margins during brain surgery.
Highlights
Terahertz (THz) imaging techniques have been studied as candidates for medical imaging, as they provide a high sensitivity for the detection of interstitial fluid, non-invasiveness, and non-ionizing characteristics [1,2]
We demonstrated that tumors in freshly excised whole brain tissue could be differentiated clearly from normal brain tissue using a reflection-type terahertz (THz) imaging system
THz binary images of brain tissues with tumors indicated that the tumor boundaries in the THz images corresponded well to those in visible images
Summary
Terahertz (THz) imaging techniques have been studied as candidates for medical imaging, as they provide a high sensitivity for the detection of interstitial fluid, non-invasiveness, and non-ionizing characteristics [1,2]. Glioblastoma is the most common primary brain tumor of the central nervous system [14] It grows invasively and has unclear margins between the neoplastic and normal regions. Medical imaging techniques, including neuronavigation, intraoperative magnetic resonance imaging (ioMRI), and positron emission tomography (PET) imaging, have been employed for the past 10 years to determine the exact tumor boundaries during surgery [16,17]. PET imaging requires injecting a positron-emitting radionuclide into the body as a tracer and has a resolution of 2–3 mm, which is low compared with that of MRI or THz, along with a sub-millimeter lateral resolution for clearly determining the tumor margins [5,18]. Fluorescence imaging using protoporphyrin IX induced by 5-aminolevulinic acid has been employed to determine the margin of glioblastoma during the resection of the tumor region [15]. Label-free imaging methods are necessary to accurately determine the tumor margins in real time
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