Physica Medica - European Journal of Medical Physics / ORAL COMMUNICATIONSVolume 115, Supplement 1102868November 2023 TERAHERTZ TECHNOLOGY AT TERRA@BRIXSINO: TOWARDS HIGH-FREQUENCY TERAMOMETRY FOR CANCER DIAGNOSIS

Background: Terahertz technology is finding use in an increasingly wide variety of applications, from quality control of food and agricultural products to biological and medical sciences, including spectroscopy of materials and molecules, non-destructive imaging for material testing and medical diagnosis. Material and Methods: In this work, we present the feasibility and possible use of THz-thermometry (Teramometry) technique combined with hyperspectral imaging as an innovative diagnostic tool for cancer diagnosis. While the quantification of tissue absorption of short-wavelength THz radiation is the main key for cancer diagnosis, on the other hand Hyperspectral THz-imaging combined with teramometry offers several advantages with respect to standard thermography: i) independence of the thermal background (providing better signal-to-noise ratio) achieving higher sensitivity, ii) possibility to obtain additional spectroscopic information, and iii) ability to penetrate materials such as clothes and bandages. Preliminary Results: This novel thermal imaging platform will be driven by the THz-FEL source TerRa@BriXSinO producing highpower radiation (kW-class) from 6 up to 30 THz. TerRa@BriXSinO is based on Energy Recovery Linac that is under development at INFN-LASA (Milan, Italy), which will achieve monochromatic (bandwidth < 1%) beam characteristics including high field (HF) and high repetition rate pulsed THz beam with both transversally and longitudinally coherency and wide frequency tunability. Teramometry with THz-FEL source will permit to achieve high spatial resolution with improved signal-to-noise ratio for advanced analysis in time, frequency, and spatial domains.