Application of THz Time-Domain Spectroscopy to Diagnose Gastric Cancer Tissues in Surgical Resected Specimens

Based on tissues from 34 patients, we investigated the performance of terahertz (THz) time-domain spectroscopy (TDS) to diagnose gastric tissues in surgical resected specimens. The results indicated that THz absorption spectra not only can clearly distinguish cancer tissues from normal tissues without hematoxylin-eosin staining (H&E staining) but also can identify carcinoma in situ and cancer tissues. Using THz-TDS to directly diagnose gastric cancer was also demonstrated with another 40 samples. Comparison of the data with the results of pathological examination indicated that the sensitivity and specificity were both 100%. Due to the ability to perform quantitative analysis and enable follow-up staining and traditional histopathological analysis, our study indicated considerable potential of THz-TDS for future automation, which is critical for the rapid and thorough prescreening of gastric cancer pathological examinations.