A review on terahertz non-destructive applications for wound and diabetic foot screening

摘要

By advances in the treatments of diabetes in the last few decades, diabetic foot problems, wounds and ulcerations continue to be a major global burden for patients and the health care systems. For monitoring wound healing, it is essential to use an accurate wound measurement method, which is able to detect small changes in the wound size. The terahertz (THz) radiation was discovered to cover the gap of the frequency range between the mid-infrared (IR) and the microwave in the electromagnetic spectrum. THz radiation as safe radiation is increasingly being used in medical, sensing, communication applications since its generation and detection technology appeared. Due to its non-ionizing non-destructive characteristic, it is generally considered to be harmless, and safe to the body tissues. Based on the mentioned characteristics, there has been an increasing interest in terahertz imaging and spectroscopy for biomedical applications. The recent development of THz technology has stimulated interest in studying biological effects associated with this frequency range and its special applications in medical diagnosis as valuable types of basic and applied research areas. Here we aim to review various fundamentals related to THz, and physical aspects including its interaction mechanisms with skin tissue, generation, detection and specifications, THz imaging, spectroscopy, and finally THz application in wound and repair monitoring and diabetic foot screening.