Nanotechnology-supported THz medical imaging [version 1; referees: 2 approved]

Over the last few decades, the achievements and progress in the field of medical imaging have dramatically enhanced the early detection and treatment of many pathological conditions. The development of new imaging modalities, especially non-ionising ones, which will improve prognosis, is of crucial importance. A number of novel imaging modalities have been developed but they are still in the initial stages of development and serious drawbacks obstruct them from offering their benefits to the medical field. In the 21 century, it is believed that nanotechnology will highly influence our everyday life and dramatically change the world of medicine, including medical imaging. Here we discuss how nanotechnology, which is still in its infancy, can improve Terahertz (THz) imaging, an emerging imaging modality, and how it may find its way into real clinical applications. THz imaging is characterised by the use of non-ionising radiation and although it has the potential to be used in many biomedical fields, it remains in the field of basic research. An extensive review of the recent available literature shows how the current state of this emerging imaging modality can be transformed by nanotechnology. Innovative scientific concepts that use nanotechnology-based techniques to overcome some of the limitations of the use of THz imaging are discussed. We review a number of drawbacks, such as a low contrast mechanism, poor source performance and bulky THz systems, which characterise present THz medical imaging and suggest how they can be overcome through nanotechnology. Better resolution and higher detection sensitivity can also be achieved using nanotechnology techniques. Andreas Stylianou ( ), Michael A Talias ( ) Corresponding authors: [email protected] [email protected] Stylianou A and Talias MA. How to cite this article: Nanotechnology-supported THz medical imaging [version 1; referees: 2 approved] 2013, :100 (doi: ) F1000Research 2 10.12688/f1000research.2-100.v1 © 2013 Stylianou A and Talias MA. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Copyright: Creative Commons Attribution , which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. Data associated Licence with the article are available under the terms of the (CC0 1.0 Public domain dedication). Creative Commons Zero "No rights reserved" data waiver The author(s) declared that no grants were involved in supporting this work. Grant information: No competing interests were disclosed. Competing interests: 28 Mar 2013, :100 (doi: ) First published: 2 10.12688/f1000research.2-100.v1 Referee Status: