Sharper sight for surgeons

Terahertz radiation could become a new weapon in the fight against cancer, thanks to its capacity to identify minute variations in soft tissue undetectable by other imaging methods. The radiation excites interactions between adjacent molecules and it's the secondary radiation produced by these molecular vibrations that provides the basis for cancer detection. The resulting spectral 'fingerprint' serves as an indicator of epithelial cancers (cancers in the area near the surface of various tissues such as skin, breast, prostate etc). This article describes Teraview's imaging system, its development and challenges to be overcome.