Terahertz Plasmonics and Hyperspectral Imaging for Bio-Medical Applications

Terahertz waves (THz waves) are expected to have applications in biomedicine because they enable noninvasive and nonlabelled observation of intermolecular vibrations. We aim to enhance the sensitivity by a selective resonant excitation effect of the specific binding and surface plasmon at the THz band. Here, we report the THz-SPR using Dirac electron systems of (Bi, Sb)
2
(Se, Te)
3
in both experiments and calculations. The sugar chain-lectin-specific binding, which has weaker interactions than antigen-antibody binding, was also observed due to the enhancement of Bi
2
Se
3
THz-SPR. Furthermore, for the purpose of medical engineering application of THz technology, we have demonstrated THz Hyperspectral Imaging, which is a combination of THz spectroscopic technology to detect intermolecular binding information related to cancerous lesions without labeling and spectroscopic imaging technology to simultaneously measure tissue morphology and physical property information of the target. In particular, by examining stage 0 cancer tissues with limited water content, we aimed to elucidate the cancer-discriminating factors other than water, such as cellular arrangement and cell nuclei.