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T-ray breakthrough could make detecting disease far easier
November 03, 2006A breakthrough in the harnessing of 'T-rays'-electromagnetic terahertz waves-which could dramatically improve the detecting and sensing of objects as varied as biological cell abnormalities and explosives has been announced.
Researchers at the University of Bath, UK, and in Spain have said they have found a way to control the flow of terahertz radiation down a metal wire. Their findings are set out in a letter published in the current journal Physical Review Letters.
Terahertz radiation, whose frequency is around one thousand billion cycles a second, bridges the gap between the microwave and infrared parts of the electromagnetic spectrum.
Materials interact with radiation at T-ray frequencies in different ways than with radiation in other parts of the spectrum, making T-rays potentially important in detecting and analysing chemicals by examining how they absorb T-rays fired at them.
This would allow quality control of prescribed drugs and detection of explosives to be carried out more easily, as many complex molecules have distinctive 'signatures' in this part of the electromagnetic spectrum.
T-ray applications are presently limited by the relatively poor ability to focus the rays, which is achieved using the conventional means of lenses and mirrors to focus the radiation. This limits the spot size of focused T-rays to a substantial fraction of a millimetre and this has made studies of small objects such as biological cells with high resolution are virtually impossible.
But in their work, the researchers found that although ordinary metal wire would not guide T-rays very well, if a series of tiny grooves was cut into the wire, it would do so much more effectively. If such a corrugated metal wire is then tapered to a point it becomes possible to very efficiently transport radiation to a point as small as a few millionths of a metre across.
This might, for example, lead to breakthroughs in examining very small objects such as the interior of biological cells where it might be possible to detect diseases or abnormalities. T-rays could also be directed to the interior of objects which could be useful in applications like endoscopic probing for cancerous cells or explosive detection.
"This is a significant development that would allow unprecedented accuracy in studying tiny objects and sensing chemicals using T-rays\\\
The University of Bath
Materials interact with radiation at T-ray frequencies in different ways than with radiation in other parts of the spectrum, making T-rays potentially important in detecting and analysing chemicals by examining how they absorb T-rays fired at them.
This would allow quality control of prescribed drugs and detection of explosives to be carried out more easily, as many complex molecules have distinctive 'signatures' in this part of the electromagnetic spectrum.
T-ray applications are presently limited by the relatively poor ability to focus the rays, which is achieved using the conventional means of lenses and mirrors to focus the radiation. This limits the spot size of focused T-rays to a substantial fraction of a millimetre and this has made studies of small objects such as biological cells with high resolution are virtually impossible.
But in their work, the researchers found that although ordinary metal wire would not guide T-rays very well, if a series of tiny grooves was cut into the wire, it would do so much more effectively. If such a corrugated metal wire is then tapered to a point it becomes possible to very efficiently transport radiation to a point as small as a few millionths of a metre across.
This might, for example, lead to breakthroughs in examining very small objects such as the interior of biological cells where it might be possible to detect diseases or abnormalities. T-rays could also be directed to the interior of objects which could be useful in applications like endoscopic probing for cancerous cells or explosive detection.
"This is a significant development that would allow unprecedented accuracy in studying tiny objects and sensing chemicals using T-rays\\\
The University of Bath
T-rays: New imaging technology spotlighted by American Chemical Society
T-ray sensing and imaging technology, which can spot cracks in space shuttle foam, see biological agents through a sealed envelope and detect tumors without harmful radiation, was the focus of a recent symposium at the national meeting of the American Chemical Society.
'T-ray' devices with perfect imaging abilities move a step closer
A team of American and British scientists has demonstrated an artificially made material that can provide a magnetic response to Terahertz frequency radiation, bringing the realisation and development of novel 'T-ray' devices a step closer. The advance, reported in the journal Science today (5 March), suggests many applications in biological and security imaging, biomolecular fingerprinting, remote sensing and guidance in zero visibility weather conditions, say the authors. Theorist John Pendry of Imperial College London, also co- author of the paper, hailed the making of the material as a feat of technological virtuosity, and looked forward to some incredible applications. "This was ter
Making waves in cancer detection
We`re all familiar with X-rays being used to look inside our bodies. But according to physicists, medical imaging in the future is likely to be based on an as yet unused type of radiation known as terahertz radiation.
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