International Journal of Collaborative Research on Internal Medicine & Public Health

Infra Red Digital Imaging in Medicine

Background: The incidence of Breast Cancer is increasing. Breast thermography is a 15 minute non invasive test of physiology. It is a valuable procedure for alerting your doctor to changes that can indicate early stage breast disease. Abnormally reproducing cells demand greater nutrition through increased blood supply, thus generating higher concentrations of heat in specific areas.

Objectives: Thermography's role in breast cancer and other breast disorders is to help in early detection and monitoring of abnormal physiology and the establishment of risk factors for the development or existence of cancer. When used with other procedures the best possible evaluation of breast health is made.

Methods: The study analyses evidence for the existence of patients in 9 healthy volunteers (mean age ± SD 38.7 ± 3.7 years; range 35 – 45 years). Two infrared cameras at different wavelength ranges were used for thermographic control. In addition to thermography, temperature and microcirculatory parameters were registered at a selected point using laser-Doppler flowmetry. Patients are very carefully chosen. Also the angles of standing of camera according to patient’s body and the way of its programming are always submitted to deeper analysis before taking down of images. [1]

Results: Thermography can detect the subtle physiologic changes that accompany breast pathology, whether it is cancer, fibrocystic disease, an infection or a vascular disease. Your doctor can then plan accordingly and lay out a careful program to further diagnose and /or MONITOR you during and after any treatment.

Conclusion: Thermography is a non invasive test. In fact, there is no contact with the body of any kind, no radiation and the procedure is painless. Infra red imaging can only produce reliable and valid results if the technique follows established standardsIn medical applications these standards are based on the physics of heat radiation and the physiology of thermoregulation of the human body. This paper describes the requirements for the location, setting up the equipment and the preparation of the human subject to be investigated. A list of references is given to support each part of the recommended procedure. Despite the fact that thermal imaging has been available for many years, there are still some applications of this technique which require more research. Infrared thermography helps to detect and contain the spreading of bird flu and other viral diseases..

Author(s): Zvonko Damnjanovi, Dejan Petrovi, Radoje Pantovi, Zavia Smiljani

Abstract | Full-Text | PDF

Share this