Illuminating the microscopic mysteries of enamel demineralization through terahertz near-field imaging
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1.Terahertz Research Center, School of Electronic Science and Engineering, University of Electronic Science and Technology of China, Chengdu 610054, China;2.Key Laboratory of Terahertz Technology, Ministry of Education, Chengdu 610054, China;3.Terahertz Radiation and Application Key Laboratory of Sichuan Province, Chengdu 611731, China;4.Tian Fu Jiang Xi Laboratory, Chengdu 641419 China;5.State Key Laboratory of Oral Diseases, National Clinical Research Center for Oral Diseases, West China Hospital of Stomatology, Sichuan University, Chengdu 610041, China

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Supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China(61988102, 62401113, 92463308)

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    Abstract:

    Enamel demineralization often occurs in the early stage of dental caries. Studying the microscopic mechanism of enamel demineralization is essential to prevent and treat dental caries. Terahertz (THz) technology, especially continuous wave (CW) THz near-field scanning microscopy (THz-SNOM) with its nanoscale resolution, can be promising in biomedical imaging. In addition, compared with traditional THz time-domain spectroscopy (TDS), portable solid-state source as the emission has higher power and SNR, lower cost, and can obtain more precise imaging. In this study, we employ CW THz-SNOM to further break the resolution limitations of conventional THz imaging techniques and successfully achieve the near-field imaging of demineralized enamel at the nanoscale. We keenly observe that the near-field signal of the enamel significantly lowers as demineralization deepens, mainly due to the decrease in permittivity. This new approach offers valuable insights into the microscopic processes of enamel demineralization, laying the foundation for further research and treatment.

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XIAO Feng, ZHANG Xiao-Qiu-Yan, CHENG Li, XU Xing-Xing, ZHANG Tian-Yu, TANG Fu, HU Tao, HU Min, LIU Sheng-Gang. Illuminating the microscopic mysteries of enamel demineralization through terahertz near-field imaging[J]. Journal of Infrared and Millimeter Waves,2025,44(5):720~725

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History
  • Received:November 13,2024
  • Revised:July 25,2025
  • Adopted:January 23,2025
  • Online: July 21,2025
  • Published:
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