title: Characterization of blood using terahertz waves.
abstract: We show that terahertz (THz) time-domain spectroscopy (TDS) can be used to characterize the blood. The complex optical constants of blood and its constituents, such as water, plasma, and red blood cells (RBCs), were obtained in the THz frequency region. The volume percentage of RBCs in blood was extracted and compared with the conventional RBC counter results. The THz absorption constants are shown to vary linearly with the RBC concentration in both normal saline and whole blood. The excellent linearity between the THz signal and the RBC concentration was also confirmed in a polyurethane resin tube using a THz imaging method. These results demonstrate that THz-TDS imaging can facilitate the quantitative analysis of blood.
authors.affiliation: Yonsei University, Graduate Program for Nanomedical Science, Seoul 120-749, Republic of KoreabYonsei University, YUHS-KRIBB Medical Convergence Research Institute, and Severance Biomedical Science Institute, College of Medicine, Department of Radiology, 250 Seongsanno, Seodaemun-gu, Seoul 120-749, Republic of Korea.
authors.forename: Kiyoung
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Jeong
authors.forename: Yong-Min
authors.initials: YM
authors.lastname: Huh
authors.forename: Sang-Hoon
authors.initials: SH
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.forename: Yeonji
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Park
authors.forename: Joo-Hiuk
authors.initials: JH
authors.lastname: Son
authors.forename: Seung Jae
authors.initials: SJ
authors.lastname: Oh
authors.forename: Jin-Suck
authors.initials: JS
authors.lastname: Suh
mesh_terms: D000042:Absorption; D000818:Animals; D004912:Erythrocytes / Q000737:chemistry*; D006403:Hematologic Tests / Q000379:methods*; D008297:Male; D010949:Plasma / Q000737:chemistry*; D051381:Rats; D017207:Rats, Sprague-Dawley; D012031:Refractometry; D055068:Terahertz Spectroscopy / Q000379:methods*