Terahertz tomographic imaging of freshly excised human breast tissues

Terahertz imaging and spectroscopy characterization of freshly excised breast cancer tumors are presented in the range 0.15 to 3.5 THz. Cancerous breast tissues were obtained from partial or full removal of malignant tumors while healthy breast tissues were obtained from breast reduction surgeries. The reflection spectroscopy to obtain the refractive index and absorption coefficient is performed on experimental data at each pixel of the tissue, forming tomographic images. The transmission spectroscopy of the refractive index and absorption coefficient are retrieved from experimental data at few tissue points. The average refractive index and absorption coefficients for cancer, fat, and collagen tissue regions are compared between transmission and reflection modes. The reflection mode offers the advantage of retrieving the electrical properties across a significantly greater number of points without the need for sectioning or altering the freshly excised tissue as in the transmission mode. The terahertz spectral power images and the tomographic images demonstrated good qualitative comparison with pathology.