International Journal of Electrical and Computer Engineering (IJECE) Vol. 15, No. 1, February 2025, pp. 1242~1250 ISSN: 2088-8708, DOI: 10.11591/ijece.v15i1.pp1242-1250  1242 Journal homepage: http://ijece.iaescore.com Perspective on the applications of terahertz imaging in skin cancer diagnosis Hamza Abu Owida 1 , Jamal I. Al-Nabulsi 1 , Muhammad Al-Ayyad 1 , Nidal Turab 2 , Nawaf Alshdaifat 3 1 Medical Engineering Department, Faculty of Engineering, Al-Ahliyya Amman University, Amman, Jordan 2 Department of Networks and Cyber Security, Faculty of Information Technology, Al-Ahliyya Amman University, Amman, Jordan 3 Faculty of Information Technology, Applied Science Private University, Amman, Jordan Article Info ABSTRACT Article history: Received Apr 5, 2024 Revised Aug 29, 2024 Accepted Oct 1, 2024 Applications of terahertz (THz) imaging technologies have advanced significantly in the disciplines of biology, medical diagnostics, and non- destructive testing in the past several decades. Significant progress has been made in THz biomedical imaging, allowing for the label-free diagnosis of malignant tumors. Terahertz frequencies, which lie between those of the microwave and infrared, are highly sensitive to water concentration and are significantly muted by water. Terahertz radiation does not cause ionization of biological tissues because of its low photon energy. Recently, terahertz spectra, including spectroscopic investigations of cancer, have been reported at an increasing rate due to the growing interest in their biological applications sparked by these unique features. To improve cancer diagnosis with terahertz imaging, an appropriate differentiation technique is required to increased blood supply and localized rise in tissue water content that commonly accompany the presence of malignancy. Terahertz imaging has been found to benefit from structural alterations in afflicted tissues. This study provides an overview of terahertz technology and briefly discusses the use of terahertz imaging techniques in the detection of skin cancer. Research into the promise and perils of terahertz imaging will also be discussed. Keywords: Continuous wave Real-time Skin cancer diagnosis Spectroscopy Terahertz imaging This is an open access article under the CC BY-SA license. Corresponding Author: Nidal Turab Department of Networks and Cyber Security, Faculty of Information Technology Al-Ahliyya Amman University, Amman 19328, Jordan Email: n.turab@ammanu.edu.jo 1. INTRODUCTION The science and technology underpinning modern imaging has gone a long way since the invention of photography in the 1800s. Light's mysterious properties captivated the attention of many brilliant minds in the same century, leading to the formulation of Maxwell's equations, which describe the famous theory of electromagnetic. It is now commonly accepted that light is an electromagnetic wave and that the fraction of the electromagnetic spectrum occupied by visible light is quite small. During the 20th century, imaging technology expanded much beyond the visible spectrum, giving rise to a wide variety of cutting-edge methods including x-ray radiography, which makes use of subatomic-scale waves, and radar, which makes use of several-meter-scale waves [1]–[3]. The electromagnetic spectrum is being employed in many different ways. The terahertz (THz) spectrum is a subset of the electromagnetic spectrum that is undergoing significant growth and is the focus of this review. Despite the lack of a consensus on its precise definition, the THz band is typically thought to encompass the range of frequencies from 0.1 to 10 THz, or 3 mm to 30 m in wavelength see in Figure 1. There have been several important discoveries and practical applications identified in the study of THz waves