Imaging of osteoarthritis using a hand-held terahertz probe

A hand-held terahertz (THz) probe system is being developed for medical use by Teraview Ltd. We use this prototype system to investigate the terahertz characteristics of osteoarthritis (OA). Excised femoral knee joints with symptoms of osteoarthritis were measured. In this paper we analyze the typical terahertz response of the diseased samples and explain how the reflected terahertz pulse could be used to quantify the integrity of cartilage in a femoral knee joint.