Terahertz Radiation Effects and Biological Applications

Abstract

We present a brief overview of the literature on biological applications and experimental data on the effects of THz radiation. The region of the electromagnetic spectrum from 0.1 to 10 THz is a frontier area for research in physics, chemistry, biology, materials science and medicine. This area has recently begun to be filled by a variety of sources of high quality radiation with a wide range of new technologies related to it. New sources have led to new science in many areas, as scientists begin to become aware of the opportunities for research progress in their fields using THz radiation. Therefore the opportunities for THz science in chemistry and biology are wide ranging. Some of them will extend the range of already established work, many others have not yet been realized but show great promise, and the rest fall somewhere in between.

Invited Review Article: Current State of Research on Biological Effects of Terahertz Radiation

“…Permeability increases as a function of peak electric field. (Reprinted with permission from [176]. ©2009, Springer Science).…”

“…Study 2. In 2009, Ramundo-Orlando et al conducted a follow-up study [176]. The goal for this study was to examine the effects of THz radiation as a function of electric field.…”

Picosecond and Terahertz Perturbation of Interfacial Water and Electropermeabilization of Biological Membranes

“…Some investigators report no effects of terahertz exposures (Zeni et al 2007; Williams et al 2011; Hintzsche et al 2013). Where responses are observed (Ramundo-Orlando and Gallerano 2009), some appear to be associated with temperature increases (Wilmink et al 2011), but others seem to be caused by direct, temperature-independent interactions of electric fields with biological processes (Titova et al 2013a; Titova et al 2013b). Millimeter waves, an electromagnetic regime that may be considered to overlap with terahertz radiation, have also been reported to affect biological systems (Ramundo-Orlando et al 2007; Kim et al 2013; Albini et al 2014; Romanenko et al 2014), and these phenomena may be related.…”

Terahertz Radiation: A Non-contact Tool for the Selective Stimulation of Biological Responses in Human Cells

“…This localized energy, while too low (in the meV range) to cause ionizing damage, is predicted to result in significant local temperature rise leading to significant effects at the cellular, organelle, and macromolecular levels [23]- [28]. Recent studies investigating U.S. Government work not protected by U.S. copyright.…”