Terahertz technology
Many
common materials and living tissues are semitransparent and have “ terahertz
fingerprints”, permitting them to be imaged, identified and analysed
Advantages
Due to non-ionizing properties terahertz radiations are safe for
screening application
Terahertz pulsed imaging
(TPI)
A non-destructive analysis helps generating and detecting
ultra short pulses of terahertz and being utilized for variety of applications
TPI in
proteomics and drug discovery
Pulsed terahertz imaging helps in determining protein 3D
structure , folding and characterization
TPI in
tablet coat analysis
Terahertz pulses incident on a tablet surface penetrate
through different coating layers. At
each interface terahertz pulse is reflected to detector. The amplitude of reflected terahertz
radiation is recorded as function of time.
TPI in
molecular structure determination
The sensitivity and specificity of terahertz spectroscopy to both
inter and intra molecular vibrations in
different chemical species enables investigation of crystalline state of drugs (eg:
polymorphism). Differentiates hydrate forms of lactose, most common excipient.
TPI in
cosmetology
The cosmetic appearance of skin influenced by the water content.
its related permeability and elasticity of the striatum corneum,
Moisturizers increases water content to enhance its appearance, so quantitative
characterization of hydration level of striatum corneum is
of crucial importance in cosmetic industry and it can be analyzed with the help
of TPI.
TPI in
oncology
TPI has potential to improve conventional biopsy
and associated surgery by more precisely identifying areas to be excised there
by reducing number of procedures and facilitating earlier and more accurate
diagnosis