Hengli Zhao,Yuye Wang Army Military Medical Univ. (China) Linyu Chen,Jia Shi Tianjin Univ. (China) Kang Ma Army Military Medical Univ. (China) Longhuang Tang,Degang Xu,Jianquan Yao Tianjin Univ. (China) Hua Feng,Tunan Chen Army Military Medical Univ. (China)
We demonstrated that different degrees of experimental traumatic brain injury (TBI) can be differentiated clearly in fresh slices of rat brain tissues using transmission-type terahertz (THz) imaging system. The high absorption region in THz images corresponded well with the injured area in visible images and magnetic resonance imaging results. The THz image and absorption characteristics of dehydrated paraffin-embedded brain slices and the hematoxylin and eosin (H&E)-stained microscopic images were investigated to account for the intrinsic differences in the THz images for the brain tissues suffered from different degrees of TBI and normal tissue aside from water. The THz absorption coefficients of rat brain tissues showed an increase in the aggravation of brain damage, particularly in the high-frequency range, whereas the cell density decreased as the order of mild, moderate, and severe TBI tissues compared with the normal tissue. Our results indicated that the different degrees of TBI were distinguishable owing to the different water contents and probable hematoma components distribution rather than intrinsic cell intensity. These promising results suggest that THz imaging has great potential as an alternative method for the fast diagnosis of TBI.
Hengli Zhao,
Yuye Wang,
Linyu Chen,
Jia Shi,
Kang Ma,
Longhuang Tang,
Degang Xu,
Jianquan Yao,
Hua Feng,
Tunan Chen,
"High-sensitivity terahertz imaging of traumatic brain injury in a rat model," Journal of Biomedical Optics 23(3), 036015 (28 March 2018). https://doi.org/10.1117/1.JBO.23.3.036015
Submission: Received 6 November 2017; Accepted 9 March 2018
Submission: Received 6 November 2017; Accepted 9 March 2018