Feature Extraction of Terahertz Transmission Images for Proteins after Electrophoresis

Abstract

In some diseases, serum protein concentration ratios can cause characteristic abnormalities. In other words, a specific disease state can be estimated from the concentration ratio of proteins fractionated by electrophoresis. Proteins can be visualized by staining. However, stain solution is harmful to the human body. Therefore, in this research, we are studying a visualization method using terahertz (THz) waves that are harmless to the human body and highly absorbable to proteins. It has been reported that THz waves can be used to visualize "proteins of human serum" fractionated by cellulose acetate membrane electrophoresis. However, the contrast of the visualized image was low and the location of the protein was unclear. In this paper, we examined the processing conditions required to prepare a sample for electrophoresis to acquire THz transmission images. In addition, we examined a method for extracting protein features from THz transmission images of human serum.