https://warwick.ac.uk/fac/sci/physics/research/condensedmatt/ultrafastphotonics/publications/ The latest from Physics » Ultrafast & Terahertz Photonics: Publications (tag [biomedical]) en-GB (C) 2026 University of Warwick Mon, 30 Mar 2026 08:11:42 GMT http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss SiteBuilder2, University of Warwick, http://go.warwick.ac.uk/sitebuilder 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024 2025 2026 biomedical highlight Lloyd-Hughes MacPherson Milot nanomaterials perovskites photoluminescence review THz components THz imaging THz spectroscopy ultrafast Untagged https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/2515-7647/ae4b7a/meta <p><img src="https://warwick.ac.uk/fac/sci/physics/research/condensedmatt/ultrafastphotonics/publications/Agarwal2026.jpg?maxWidth=150" alt="THz scab" style="margin-right: 10px;" border="0" align="right" /></p> <p class="mb-0"><strong>A. Agarwal</strong> and <strong>E. Pickwell-MacPherson</strong></p> <p>J. Phys. Photonics <strong>8</strong> 011001 <span class="cit-pageRange"> </span>(Mar 2026) <button class="abstractButton" onclick="location.href='https://dx.doi.org/10.1088/2515-7647/ae4b7a';">web</button> <button class="abstractButton" onclick="location.href='https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/2515-7647/ae4b7a/pdf';">pdf</button> <button class="abstractButton" onclick="showHide('Agarwal2026')">Show abstract</button></p> <div id="Agarwal2026" style="display: none;">Terahertz (THz) sensing has gained significant attention as a non-ionizing modality capable of probing the superficial layers of biological tissue with high sensitivity to water content, structural changes, and biochemical composition. Its strong interaction with water makes it uniquely suited for investigating dermatological applications such as hydration assessment, wound and burn monitoring, and the detection and characterization of skin cancers. However, the shallow penetration depth of THz light, combined with the sensitivity of measurements to probe-skin coupling, contact pressure, and motion artifacts, poses persistent challenges for in vivo use. Overcoming these limitations requires carefully engineered hardware, robust measurement protocols, and advanced computational techniques tailored to biological variability. This article reviews the evolution of THz instrumentation for in vivo skin sensing, spanning early laboratory systems to emerging compact, handheld, robotic, and computationally enhanced platforms. Key developments in probe miniaturization, ergonomic design, and automated control of probe orientation and pressure are described, as these advances directly influence measurement reproducibility and clinical usability. We highlight recent progress in single-pixel imaging, which offers video-rate capabilities, the emergence of waveguide-integrated metamaterial sensors that push spatial resolution far below the diffraction limit, and THz ellipsometry that gives complementary contrast. In addition, we discuss the growing role of data-driven processing, compressed-sensing algorithms, and biophysical modeling in extracting clinically relevant parameters from THz measurements. Although promising, many of the emerging systems remain untested in in vivo dermatological scenarios, and challenges including motion artifacts, calibration stability, and inter-subject variability must be addressed. Continued interdisciplinary work between engineers, physicists, and clinicians is essential for transitioning THz systems toward practical, patient-compliant diagnostic tools.</div> <div align="left"><img src="https://api.elsevier.com/content/abstract/citation-count?doi=10.1088/2515-7647/ae4b7a&amp;httpAccept=image%2Fjpeg&amp;apiKey=23942728d429d8cd622400c4a7485a23" border="0" /></div> <div class="altmetric-embed" data-badge-popover="right" data-badge-type="2" data-doi="10.1088/2515-7647/ae4b7a" data-hide-no-mentions="true"></div> THz spectroscopy MacPherson THz imaging biomedical 2026 Mon, 30 Mar 2026 07:58:00 GMT 8ac672c49d3cb3aa019d3dbff27b01be https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-026-68290-x <p><img src="https://warwick.ac.uk/fac/sci/physics/research/condensedmatt/ultrafastphotonics/publications/Mou2026.png?maxWidth=150" alt="THz scab" style="margin-right: 10px;" border="0" align="right" /></p> <p class="mb-0"><strong>S. Mou, R.I. Stantchev</strong>, S. Saxena, <strong>H. Ou, S. Rane</strong>, S. Pain, J.D. Murphy, E. Hendry, <strong>J. Lloyd-Hughes</strong> and <strong>E. Pickwell-MacPherson</strong></p> <p>Nature Communications <strong>17</strong> 1571 <span class="cit-pageRange"> </span>(Jan 2026) <button class="abstractButton" onclick="location.href='https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-026-68290-x';">web</button> <button class="abstractButton" onclick="location.href='https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-026-68290-x.pdf';">pdf</button> <button class="abstractButton" onclick="showHide('Mou2026')">Show abstract</button></p> <div id="Mou2026" style="display: none;">Real-time, non-invasive imaging techniques are essential for advancing biomedical diagnostics and material analysis, yet existing terahertz (THz) systems often suffer from limited speed, bulky designs, and poor adaptability to in situ environments. Addressing these challenges, we present a fully fibre-coupled THz attenuated total internal reflection single-pixel imaging system, offering a compact, flexible, and robust platform for non-destructive spectroscopy and in vivo imaging. This all-fibre architecture enables seamless integration for in situ biomedical applications, including measurements directly on patients. Central to our design is a THz spatial light modulator based on an unpassivated silicon wafer, facilitating high-speed modulation and enabling video-rate imaging with a spatial resolution down to 360 μm. Despite being in the reflection geometry and using fibre-coupled light, our system achieves an imaging throughput exceeding 30,000 pixels per second for 64-by-64 images - over five-fold higher than the state of the art - representing a substantial improvement in real-time THz imaging capabilities.</div> <div align="left"><img src="https://api.elsevier.com/content/abstract/citation-count?doi=10.1038/s41467-026-68290-x&amp;httpAccept=image%2Fjpeg&amp;apiKey=23942728d429d8cd622400c4a7485a23" border="0" /></div> <div class="altmetric-embed" data-badge-popover="right" data-badge-type="2" data-doi="10.1038/s41467-026-68290-x" data-hide-no-mentions="true"></div> THz spectroscopy MacPherson Lloyd-Hughes THz imaging biomedical highlight 2026 Wed, 25 Feb 2026 12:24:00 GMT 8ac672c59c8dd0ec019c94c1d08c39b5 https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10762-025-01055-7 <p><img src="https://warwick.ac.uk/fac/sci/physics/research/condensedmatt/ultrafastphotonics/publications/jacob2025.webp?maxWidth=200" alt="Diagram" style="margin-right: 20px;" border="0" align="right" /></p> <p><strong>J.J. Young, A. Agarwal, B.G. Page, A. Dogra, A.I. Hernandez-Serrano, </strong> J. Hardwicke and <strong>E. Pickwell-MacPherson</strong> <br />J. IR mm THz waves <strong>46</strong>, 36 (May 2025) <button class="abstractButton" onclick="location.href='https://doi.org/10.1007/s10762-025-01055-7';">web</button> <button class="abstractButton" onclick="location.href='https://warwick.ac.uk/fac/sci/physics/research/condensedmatt/ultrafastphotonics/publications/Jacob2025.pdf';">pdf</button> <button class="abstractButton" onclick="showHide('Jacob2025')">Show abstract</button></p> <div id="Jacob2025" style="display: none;">In this work, we demonstrate significant modifications to our robotically controlled terahertz (THz) sensing system, the “PicoBot,” enabling it to perform in vivo imaging of skin rather than limiting it to single-point measurements. By integrating a robotic arm equipped with force-sensitive feedback control, we maintain consistent contact pressure between the probe and the skin surface throughout imaging. In conjunction with this hardware advancement, we introduce an accompanying image analysis pipeline that reduces noise and enhances repeatability across scans. These improvements allow for reliable intra- and inter-subject comparisons, a critical step toward the clinical utility of THz imaging. Our ultimate aim is to use THz imaging to detect skin cancer margins: this paper highlights progress towards this goal and skin evaluation in general.</div> <div class="altmetric-embed" data-badge-popover="right" data-badge-type="2" data-doi="10.1007/s10762-025-01055-7" data-hide-no-mentions="true"></div> <div><img src="https://api.elsevier.com/content/abstract/citation-count?doi=10.1007/s10762-025-01055-7&amp;httpAccept=image%2Fjpeg&amp;apiKey=23942728d429d8cd622400c4a7485a23" border="0" /></div> MacPherson THz imaging biomedical highlight 2025 Fri, 30 May 2025 13:50:00 GMT 8ac672c7980c09a7019813885e952e31 https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/10982400 <p><img src="https://warwick.ac.uk/fac/sci/physics/research/condensedmatt/ultrafastphotonics/publications/ben2025.gif?maxWidth=200" alt="Diagram" style="margin-right: 20px;" border="0" align="right" /></p> <p><strong>B.G. Page, J.J. Young, A.I. Hernandez-Serrano, </strong> J. Hardwicke and <strong>E. Pickwell-MacPherson</strong> <br />IEEE Trans. THz Sci. Tech. <strong>15</strong>, 573 (May 2025) <button class="abstractButton" onclick="location.href='https://doi.org/10.1109/TTHZ.2025.3566562';">web</button> <button class="abstractButton" onclick="location.href='https://warwick.ac.uk/fac/sci/physics/research/condensedmatt/ultrafastphotonics/publications/ben2025.pdf';">pdf</button> <button class="abstractButton" onclick="showHide('Ben2025')">Show abstract</button></p> <div id="Ben2025" style="display: none;">Eczema and psoriasis are two of the most prevalent skin conditions in the United Kingdom. Typically, diagnosis and treatment assessment are evaluated based on qualitative measures such as skin appearance and patient feedback. Thus, there is a need for a robust and quantitative method of assessing treatment efficacy and monitoring improvements in skin condition. Terahertz (THz) sensing is a promising candidate, owing to its nonionising properties and high water sensitivity. However, THz sensing is heavily reliant upon signal processing techniques, in particular deconvolution methods used to extract skin-dependent parameters. Conventionally, double Gaussian deconvolution has been used, however this has been shown to oversmooth data and cause unnecessary signal suppression. In this study, an alternative approach, known as frequency-wavelet domain deconvolution, has been applied to in vivo THz skin measurements obtained in a clinical study. It is shown that this deconvolution method significantly enhances the usable signal, and improves the accuracy of the extracted impulse response function.</div> <div class="altmetric-embed" data-badge-popover="right" data-badge-type="2" data-doi="10.1109/TTHZ.2025.3566562" data-hide-no-mentions="true"></div> <div><img src="https://api.elsevier.com/content/abstract/citation-count?doi=10.1109/TTHZ.2025.3566562&amp;httpAccept=image%2Fjpeg&amp;apiKey=23942728d429d8cd622400c4a7485a23" border="0" /></div> THz spectroscopy MacPherson biomedical 2025 Fri, 02 May 2025 09:50:00 GMT 8ac672c49809b12801981373f93f6d60 https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-025-88718-6 <p><img src="https://warwick.ac.uk/fac/sci/physics/research/condensedmatt/ultrafastphotonics/publications/Anubhav2025.jpeg?maxWidth=200" alt="Diagram" style="margin-right: 20px;" border="0" align="right" /></p> <p><strong>A. Dogra, </strong> D. Jones, <strong>A.I. Hernandez-Serrano, S. Chakraborty, J.J. Young, B.G. Page, </strong>J. Hardwicke, P. Valdastri and <strong>E. Pickwell-MacPherson</strong> <br />Scientific Reports <strong>15</strong>, 4568 (Feb 2025) <button class="abstractButton" onclick="location.href='https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-025-88718-6';">web</button> <button class="abstractButton" onclick="location.href='https://warwick.ac.uk/fac/sci/physics/research/condensedmatt/ultrafastphotonics/publications/Dogra2025.pdf';">pdf</button> <button class="abstractButton" onclick="showHide('Dogra2025')">Show abstract</button></p> <div id="Dogra2025" style="display: none;">Terahertz (THz) light has the unique properties of being very sensitive to water, non-ionizing, and having sub-millimeter depth resolution, making it suitable for medical imaging. Skin conditions including eczema, psoriasis and skin cancer affect a high percentage of the population and we have been developing a THz probe to help with their diagnosis, treatment and management. Our in vivo studies have been using a handheld THz probe, but this has been prone to positional errors through sensorimotor perturbations and tremors, giving spatially imprecise measurements and significant variations in contact pressure. As the operator tires through extended device use, these errors are further exacerbated. A robotic system is therefore needed to tune the critical parameters and achieve accurate and repeatable measurements of skin. This paper proposes an autonomous robotic THz acquisition system, the PicoBot, designed for non-invasive diagnosis of healthy and diseased skin conditions, based on hydration levels in the skin. The PicoBot can 3D scan and segment out the region of interest on the skin’s surface, precisely position (± 0.5/1 mm/degrees) the probe normal to the surface, and apply a desired amount of force (± 0.1N) to maintain firm contact for the required 60 s during THz data acquisition. The robotic automation improves the stability of the acquired THz signals, reducing the standard deviation of amplitude fluctuations by over a factor of four at 1 THz compared to hand-held mode. We show THz results for skin measurements of volunteers with healthy and dry skin conditions on various parts of the body such as the volar forearm, forehead, cheeks, and hands. The tests conducted validate the preclinical feasibility of the concept along with the robustness and advantages of using the PicoBot, compared to a manual measurement setup.</div> <div class="altmetric-embed" data-badge-popover="right" data-badge-type="2" data-doi="10.1038/s41598-025-88718-6" data-hide-no-mentions="true"></div> <div><img src="https://api.elsevier.com/content/abstract/citation-count?doi=10.1038/s41598-025-88718-6&amp;httpAccept=image%2Fjpeg&amp;apiKey=23942728d429d8cd622400c4a7485a23" border="0" /></div> MacPherson biomedical 2025 Fri, 07 Feb 2025 15:10:00 GMT 8ac672c49809b1280198139431866dff https://opg.optica.org/boe/fulltext.cfm?uri=boe-15-9-5180&id=554566 <div class="news-thumbnail" style="float: left; margin-right: 10px; margin-bottom: 5px;"><img class="thumbnail" width="100" height="100" src="https://warwick.ac.uk/sitebuilder2/file/fac/sci/physics/research/condensedmatt/ultrafastphotonics/publications?sbrPage=%2Ffac%2Fsci%2Fphysics%2Fresearch%2Fcondensedmatt%2Fultrafastphotonics%2Fpublications&newsItem=8ac672c7980c09a701981346b7fe2215" alt="image"></div><p><img src="https://warwick.ac.uk/fac/sci/physics/research/condensedmatt/ultrafastphotonics/publications/xuefei2024.jpg?maxWidth=200" alt="Diagram" style="margin-right: 20px;" border="0" align="right" /></p> <p><strong>X. Ding, A.I. Hernandez-Serrano, J.J. Young and E. Pickwell-MacPherson</strong> <br />Biomedical Optics Express <strong>15</strong>, 5180 (Aug 2024) <button class="abstractButton" onclick="location.href='https://doi.org/10.1364/BOE.527731';">web</button> <button class="abstractButton" onclick="location.href='https://warwick.ac.uk/fac/sci/physics/research/condensedmatt/ultrafastphotonics/publications/Arturo2024b.pdf';">pdf</button> <button class="abstractButton" onclick="showHide('Xuefei2024')">Show abstract</button></p> <div id="Xuefei2024" style="display: none;">The skin, being the body’s largest organ, plays a pivotal role in protecting the body against dangerous external factors. The maintenance of adequate hydration levels is essential for the skin to fulfill this protective function. However, skin hydration depends upon different biophysical factors and lifestyles, such as ethnicity, sex, age, water consumption, and many more. Consequently, methods to assess skin hydration in a precise and non-invasive manner are in high demand. In this paper, using a portable and handheld terahertz (THz) probe, we systematically examine the correlation between diverse biophysical factors and skin hydration profile in a population exceeding 300 participants. Through comparative analysis of THz light reflected from the skin against a dielectric model, we successfully extracted the thickness and hydration percentage of the outermost layer of the epidermis, the stratum corneum (SC). Our findings indicate that SC hydration and thickness are associated with variables such as daily water consumption, age, drinking coffee, and exercise. Additionally, our measurements reveal distinctions in the skin’s hydration properties concerning susceptibility to UV-induced effects by bringing in the Fitzpatrick skin types. This THz-based technique holds the potential for facile integration into clinical settings for the evaluation and diagnosis of various skin-related conditions.</div> <div class="altmetric-embed" data-badge-popover="right" data-badge-type="2" data-doi="10.1364/BOE.527731" data-hide-no-mentions="true"></div> <div><img src="https://api.elsevier.com/content/abstract/citation-count?doi=10.1364/BOE.527731&amp;httpAccept=image%2Fjpeg&amp;apiKey=23942728d429d8cd622400c4a7485a23" border="0" /></div> THz spectroscopy MacPherson 2024 biomedical Tue, 13 Aug 2024 12:45:00 GMT 8ac672c7980c09a701981346b7fe2215 https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-024-68106-2 <p><img src="https://warwick.ac.uk/fac/sci/physics/research/condensedmatt/ultrafastphotonics/publications/jacob2024.webp?maxWidth=200" alt="Diagram" style="margin-right: 20px;" border="0" align="right" /></p> <p><strong>J.J. Young, A.I. Hernandez-Serrano, </strong> J. Hardwicke and <strong>E. Pickwell-MacPherson</strong> <br />Scientific Reports <strong>14</strong>, 17546 (July 2024) <button class="abstractButton" onclick="location.href='https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-024-68106-2';">web</button> <button class="abstractButton" onclick="location.href='https://warwick.ac.uk/fac/sci/physics/research/condensedmatt/ultrafastphotonics/publications/Jacob2024.pdf';">pdf</button> <button class="abstractButton" onclick="showHide('Jacob2024')">Show abstract</button></p> <div id="Jacob2024" style="display: none;">In this study we present the first in vivo clinical study of patients with eczema and psoriasis using terahertz (THz) sensing. Eczema and psoriasis patients were measured using a handheld THz scanner, both before and after the application of moisturiser. We show that THz sensing can distinguish between dry and healthy skin in different regions of the body. Furthermore, the impact of applying moisturiser on the skin can also be observed and potentially evaluated using THz light.</div> <div class="altmetric-embed" data-badge-popover="right" data-badge-type="2" data-doi="10.1038/s41598-024-68106-2" data-hide-no-mentions="true"></div> <div><img src="https://api.elsevier.com/content/abstract/citation-count?doi=10.1038/s41598-024-68106-2&amp;httpAccept=image%2Fjpeg&amp;apiKey=23942728d429d8cd622400c4a7485a23" border="0" /></div> THz spectroscopy MacPherson 2024 biomedical Tue, 30 Jul 2024 08:45:00 GMT 8ac672c49809b12801981353240f6677 https://opg.optica.org/boe/fulltext.cfm?uri=boe-15-5-3064&id=549001 <p><img src="https://warwick.ac.uk/fac/sci/physics/research/condensedmatt/ultrafastphotonics/publications/arturo2024.jpeg?maxWidth=200" alt="Diagram" style="margin-right: 20px;" border="0" align="right" /></p> <p><strong>A.I. Hernandez-Serrano, X. Ding, G. Costa, </strong> G. Nurumbetov, D.M. Haddleton and <strong>E. Pickwell-MacPherson</strong> <br />Biomedical Optics Express <strong>15</strong>, 3064 (May 2024) <button class="abstractButton" onclick="location.href='https://doi.org/10.1364/BOE.513557';">web</button> <button class="abstractButton" onclick="location.href='https://warwick.ac.uk/fac/sci/physics/research/condensedmatt/ultrafastphotonics/publications/Arturo2024b.pdf';">pdf</button> <button class="abstractButton" onclick="showHide('Arturo2024b')">Show abstract</button></p> <div id="Arturo2024b" style="display: none;">Transdermal drug delivery patches are a good alternative to hypodermic drug injection. The drug delivery efficiency depends strongly on the hydration of the skin under treatment, and therefore, it is essential to study the effects on the skin induced by the application of these medical-grade patches. Terahertz (THz) spectroscopy shows great promise for non-invasive skin evaluation due to its high sensitivity to subtle changes in water content, low power and non-ionizing properties. In this work, we study the effects of transdermal drug delivery patches (three fully occlusive and three partially occlusive) applied on the upper arms of ten volunteers for a maximum period of 28&thinsp;h. Three different levels of propylene glycol (0&thinsp;%, 3&thinsp;% and 6&thinsp;%) are added to the patches as excipient. By performing multilayer analysis, we successfully retrieve the water content of the stratum corneum (SC) which is the outermost layer of skin, as well as its thickness at different times before and after applying the patches. This study demonstrates the potential of using THz sensing for non invasive skin monitoring and has wide applications for skin evaluation as well as the development of skin products.</div> <div class="altmetric-embed" data-badge-popover="right" data-badge-type="2" data-doi="10.1364/BOE.513557" data-hide-no-mentions="true"></div> <div><img src="https://api.elsevier.com/content/abstract/citation-count?doi=10.1364/BOE.513557&amp;httpAccept=image%2Fjpeg&amp;apiKey=23942728d429d8cd622400c4a7485a23" border="0" /></div> THz spectroscopy MacPherson 2024 biomedical highlight Wed, 15 May 2024 06:25:00 GMT 8ac672c7928fa5310192adc08b124e6f https://doi.org/10.1117/1.APN.3.1.016012 <p><img src="https://warwick.ac.uk/fac/sci/physics/research/condensedmatt/ultrafastphotonics/publications/arturo2024.png?maxWidth=200" alt="Diagram" style="margin-right: 20px;" border="0" align="right" /></p> <p><strong>A.I. Hernandez-Serrano, X. Ding, J. Young, G. Costa, A. Dogra,</strong> J. Hardwicke and <strong>E. Pickwell-MacPherson</strong> <br />Advanced Photonics Nexus <strong>3</strong>, 016012 (Feb 2024) <button class="abstractButton" onclick="location.href='https://doi.org/10.1117/1.APN.3.1.016012';">web</button> <button class="abstractButton" onclick="location.href='https://warwick.ac.uk/fac/sci/physics/research/condensedmatt/ultrafastphotonics/publications/Arturo2024.pdf';">pdf</button> <button class="abstractButton" onclick="showHide('Arturo2024')">Show abstract</button></p> <div id="Arturo2024" style="display: none;">This study introduces a handheld terahertz (THz) scanner designed to quantitatively evaluate human skin hydration levels and thickness. This device, through the incorporation of force sensors, demonstrates enhanced repeatability and accuracy over traditional fixed THz systems. The scanner was evaluated in the largest THz skin study to date, assessing 314 volunteers, successfully differentiating between individuals with dry skin and hydrated skin using a numerical stratified skin model. The scanner measures and displays skin hydration dynamics within a quarter of a second, indicating its potential for real-time, noninvasive examinations, opening up opportunities for in vivo and ex vivo diagnosis during patient consultations. Furthermore, the portability and ease of use of our scanner enable its widespread application for in vivo and ex vivo diagnosis during patient consultations, potentially allowing in situ biopsy evaluation and elimination of histopathology processing wait times, thereby improving patient outcomes by facilitating simultaneous tumor diagnosis and removal.</div> <div class="altmetric-embed" data-badge-popover="right" data-badge-type="2" data-doi="10.1117/1.APN.3.1.016012" data-hide-no-mentions="true"></div> <div><img src="https://api.elsevier.com/content/abstract/citation-count?doi=10.1117/1.APN.3.1.016012&amp;httpAccept=image%2Fjpeg&amp;apiKey=23942728d429d8cd622400c4a7485a23" border="0" /></div> THz spectroscopy MacPherson 2024 biomedical Fri, 12 Apr 2024 06:02:00 GMT 8a1785d88ec79a0f018ed0e6b97c57bf http://dx.doi.org/10.1039/d3sc01875j <p><img src="https://warwick.ac.uk/fac/sci/physics/research/condensedmatt/ultrafastphotonics/publications/whittock2023.jpeg?maxWidth=200" alt="Diagram" style="margin-right: 20px;" border="0" align="right" /></p> <p>A. Whittock, <strong>X. Ding</strong>, <strong> X. Ramirez Barker</strong>, N. Auckloo, R. Sellers, <strong>J.M. Woolley</strong> V. Krishnan, C. Marine, C. Corre, <strong> E. Pickwell-MacPherson</strong> and V.G. Stavros <br />Chem. Sci. <strong>14</strong>, 6763 (June 2023) <button class="abstractButton" onclick="location.href='https://doi.org/10.1039/d3sc01875j';">web</button> <button class="abstractButton" onclick="location.href='https://wrap.warwick.ac.uk/176303/7/d3sc01875j.pdf';">pdf</button> <button class="abstractButton" onclick="showHide('Whittock2023')">Show abstract</button></p> <div id="Whittock2023" style="display: none;">Biomimicry has become a key player in researching new materials for a whole range of applications. In this study, we have taken a crude extract from the red algae Palmaria palmata containing mycosporine-like amino acids &ndash; a photoprotective family of molecules. We have applied the crude extract onto a surface to assess if photoprotection, and more broadly, light-to-heat conversion, is retained; we found it is. Considering sunscreens as a specific application, we have performed transmission and reflection terahertz spectroscopy of the extract and glycerol to demonstrate how one can monitor stability in real-world applications.</div> <div class="altmetric-embed" data-badge-popover="right" data-badge-type="2" data-doi="10.1039/d3sc01875j" data-hide-no-mentions="true"></div> <div><img src="https://api.elsevier.com/content/abstract/citation-count?doi=10.1039/d3sc01875j&amp;httpAccept=image%2Fjpeg&amp;apiKey=23942728d429d8cd622400c4a7485a23" border="0" /></div> THz spectroscopy MacPherson 2023 biomedical Wed, 28 Jun 2023 07:00:00 GMT 8a17841b8ce92916018d35577e5c4e70