Optical properties of human jawbone and human bone substitute Cerabone® in the terahertz range

Abstract

The refractive indices n(ω) and absorption coefficients α(ω) of the jawbone and the human bone substitute Cerabone® were determined in vitro by the terahertz (THz) time-domain spectroscopy (TDS) in a wide frequency range from 0.2 to 2.5 THz. It is shown that the refractive index of the human jawbone changes between the values of 2.075 and 2.157, and of the Cerabone® between 2.4 and 2.65. The absorption coefficient of the human jawbone increases depending on the frequency from 1.7 cm^–1 to 178.5 cm^–1, showing several resonance absorption lines at the values greater than 1.6 THz. The absorption coefficient of Cerabone® increases from zero to 80 cm^–1, and the resonance absorption occurs at 1.7 THz. The obtained results allow us to determine the proximity of the physical properties of the bone transplantation material Cerabone® with the natural bone matrix.