Three-dimensional terahertz computed tomography of human bones

Maryelle Bessou (1) , Bruno Chassagne (2) , Jean-Pascal Caumes (3) , Christophe Pradère (3) , Philippe Maire (4) , Marc Tondusson (4) , Emmanuel Abraham (4)

1 PACEA - De la Préhistoire à l'Actuel : Culture, Environnement et Anthropologie
2 ALPhANOV
3 TREFLE - Transferts, écoulements, fluides, énergétique
4 LOMA - Laboratoire Ondes et Matière d'Aquitaine

Three-dimensional terahertz computed tomography has been used to investigate dried human bones such as a lumbar vertebra, a coxal bone, and a skull, with a direct comparison with standard radiography. In spite of lower spatial resolution compared with x-ray, terahertz imaging clearly discerns a compact bone from a spongy one, with strong terahertz absorption as shown by additional terahertz time-domain transmission spectroscopy.

Mots clés: Terahertz imaging; Three-dimensional image acquisition; Tomographic image processing; X-ray imaging; Spectroscopy - tissue diagnostics

Domaines: Optique [physics.optics]

Maryelle Bessou, Bruno Chassagne, Jean-Pascal Caumes, Christophe Pradère, Philippe Maire, et al.. Three-dimensional terahertz computed tomography of human bones. Applied optics, 2012, 51 (28), pp.6738-6744. ⟨10.1364/AO.51.006738⟩. ⟨hal-00751516⟩