Terahertz optical properties of the cornea

We present a study aimed at developing a terahertz time domain spectroscopy (THz-TDS) system for detection of the optical properties of ex vivo rabbit corneal tissues with different water content at terahertz frequencies (0.1-0.3 THz). The refractive index decreased with frequency while the absorption coefficient increased with frequency. Our experimental results matched the theoretical calculation very well revealing that both the absorption coefficient and the refractive index of a hydrated cornea were much larger than that of a dehydrated cornea and the terahertz properties depended on the hydrate conditions of the biosamples.