Single cell imaging with near-field terahertz scanning microscopy

Objectives Terahertz (THz)-based imaging techniques hold great potential for biological and biomedical applications, which nevertheless are hampered by the low spatial resolution of conventional THz imaging systems. In this work, we report a high-performance photoconductive antenna microprobe-based near-field THz time-domain spectroscopy scanning microscope. Materials and methods A single watermelon pulp cell was prepared on a clean quartz slide and covered by a thin polyethylene film. The high performance near-field THz microscope was developed based on a coherent THz time-domain spectroscopy system coupled with a photoconductive antenna microprobe. The sample was imaged in transmission mode. Results We demonstrate the direct imaging of the morphology of single watermelon pulp cells in the natural dehydration process with our near-field THz microscope. Conclusions Given the label-free and non-destructive nature of THz detection techniques, our near-field microscopy-based single-cell imaging approach sheds new light on studying biological samples with THz.