Towards functional 3D T-ray imaging

We review the recent development of T-ray computed tomography, a terahertz imaging technique that allows the reconstruction of the three-dimensional refractive index profile of weakly scattering objects. Terahertz pulse imaging is used to obtain images of the target at multiple projection angles and the filtered backprojection algorithm enables the reconstruction of the object's frequency-dependent refractive index. The application of this technique to a biological bone sample and a plastic test structure is demonstrated. The structure of each target is accurately resolved and the frequency-dependent refractive index is determined. The frequency-dependent information may potentially be used to extract functional information from the target, to uniquely identify different materials or to diagnose medical conditions.