Preliminary results of non-contact THz imaging of cornea.

ABSTRACT

This paper presents a novel THz optical design that allows the acquisition of THz reflectivity maps of in vivo cornea without the need for a field flattening window and preliminary imaging results of in vivo rabbit cornea. The system's intended use is to sense small changes in corneal tissue water content (CTWC) that can be precursors for a host of diseases and pathologies. Unique beam optics allows the scanning of a curved surface at normal incidence while keeping the source detector and target stationary. Basic system design principles are discussed and image sets of spherical calibration targets and corneal phantom models are presented. The presented design will enable, for the first time, non-contact THz imaging of animal and human cornea.