High Resolusion Bio Terahertz Imaging System

2023 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 20H00247
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (A)
• Allocation Type: Single-year Grants
• Section: 一般
• Review Section: Medium-sized Section 21:Electrical and electronic engineering and related fields
• Research Institution: Osaka University
• Principal Investigator: Tonouchi Masayoshi 大阪大学, レーザー科学研究所, 教授 (40207593)
• Project Period (FY): 2020-04-01 – 2023-03-31
• Keywords: テラヘルツ波バイオセンシング / 走査型テラヘルツ点光源 / テラヘルツマイクロ流路 / がん細胞観測

Outline of Final Research Achievements

By coupling a local terahertz (THz) point source with a meta-atom, we have succeeded in developing the world's most sensitive THz microfluidic chips. We also developed a reflective chip that enables simple and fast testing, and showed that it is effective for differential detection of s-DNA, d-DNA, etc. We developed a scanning terahertz point source (SPoTS) microscope using the point source, and by employing a solid-immersion lens, we achieved high resolution, and we succeeded for the first time in the world in THz imaging of necrotic cells in early-stage breast cancer in the breast duct. In those processes, we elucidated the specific resonance state from the time-domain interaction between the meta-atoms and the local THz point source. In addition, we proposed an on-line capillary electrophoresis detection method using THz spectroscopy, which will contribute to the development of the field of terahertz photonics.

Free Research Field

テラヘルツ工学

Academic Significance and Societal Importance of the Research Achievements

局所場における光テラヘルツ波変換は世界的にも注目を浴び始めている。その中で、メタマテリアルとの相互作用を考慮した局所場変換の科学は未開拓であった。本研究では、メタアトムがTHz波と結合後の時間領域共鳴を明らかにすることで、メタマテリアル結合型THzマイクロ流路チップを開発し、世界最高感度かつ微量センシングを可能とした。また、開発されたSPoTS顕微鏡による非染色早期癌内壊死細胞の観測は癌診断へのブレークスルーをもたらすもので、テラヘルツバイオフォトニクス分野の創成につながることが期待される。