Terahertz-attenuated total reflection imaging of fresh brain glioma based on solid immersion lens

The accurate diagnosis and treatment of gliomas greatly depend on the precise delineation of tumor boundaries and the rapid extraction of molecular pathological features. In this paper, the terahertz (THz) attenuated total reflection (ATR) imaging with super-hemispherical solid immersion lens (SIL) has been developed. The resolution of 120 μm have been demonstrated by imaging the agar. THz imaging of freshly excised normal brain tissues and glioma tissues in mice models have been performed. The results showed that detailed structures such as the hippocampus in normal mice brain tissue can be accurately identified. Moreover, it can be found that hippocampus exhibits different THz reflectivity from the surrounding tissue by analyzing the THz properties of these regions. The glioma in mice brain tissue can be differentiated clearly from normal brain tissue for their high absorption properties of THz wave, which corresponded well to the glioma region in the hematoxylin and eosin (H&E) stained image. These promising results indicate the potential of THz ATR imaging based on SIL as a label-free, real-time diagnostic tool for brain gliomas.