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Featured Articles
The Truth About Breast Thermography
Thermal Imaging Cameras in Airports
Thermal Cameras in Modern Medicine
Mammography vs Thermography
The Truth About Breast Thermography
Breast thermography is a clinical diagnostic procedure which uses highly specialized infra red cameras to measure the heat coming from the body, in this case, the breast. Thermography has been approved for this purpose for many years by the US FDA (United States Food and Drug Administration) and in the past two years (2001-2002) many new doctors and technicians have entered the field. Read the Full Story
Thermal Imaging Cameras in Airports
After the outbreak of SARS flu outbreak a few years ago, several major airports in Asia discovered the benefits of utilizing infrared thermal imaging camera technology. The Thermal cameras are an effective way to implicate infrared surveillance and virus monitoring in order to control the spread by travelers of the new H1N1 virus- commonly known as the swine flu. Read the Full Story
Health Care Reform?
According to recent health care reform news, Congress is still miles away from agreeing on a comprehensive health care reform bill. Although Senators and members of the House of Representatives are proposing bills and debating many aspects of the final proposal, bipartisan politics and differing agendas are making agreement nearly impossible.
Read more...
Thermal Cameras in Modern Medicine
Cancer is said to be a dangerous disease; however it is not necessary that all cancer patients die, as with the timely detection and treatment it is possible to survive from cancer. Today medical science has turned to technology to help them detect cancer cells and prevent its spread which is made possible through infrared cameras. Read the Full Story
Mammography vs Thermography
According to the CDC, breast cancer is the second most common cancer among women and is one of the top ten causes of death among women in the United States. These numbers are frightening and early and accurate detection is vital in order to catch the disease in its early stages and begin lifesaving treatment. There are different methods that are used to detect breast cancer but not all of these methods can give the early detection that is required in order to save lives.
Read more.
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This short paper has been written to address the three most important of these errors that we are currently asked by the general public to help correct.
1) Thermography centers offering full body thermography. (A misnomer)In the old days of thermography there were codes for upper and lower body thermography. These codes were used for neck or low back injuries and indicated that the cervical spine region and arms, or the low back region and legs were being imaged. Some people had both neck and low back injuries and as such the "full body thermography code" was established. Later in the late 80's early 90's we perfected CT scan and media advertising for Full Body CT scans wee seen on TV and heard on the radio nationally.
The problem: Thermography does NOT see inside the body. We do not see inside the skull, chest, abdomen or pelvis and we do not see bone. A full body thermography is a topographical Scan" meaning that only the surface of the body is being evaluated. In fact, all of the labs who have been trained by the AMIA, AMIA< IACT< AMIT or ThermoDoc Network have forms that say Full Body Topographical Exam or Study.
If a thermal imaging laboratory or doctor tells you that thermography can see organs, they are gravely mistaken. You should not, under any circumstance, rely on thermography or thermal imaging for internal organ diagnosis. This is the domain of anatomical or structural testing such as CT scan or MRI.
2) The double BASELINE evaluation.Many patients are told that they have to come back for a second examination in 90 days following their very first thermogram. This is especially true for breast thermography labs. This is a fundamental marketing tool and is not reliable and sound medical practice.
When you have your very first thermography, also called a baseline thermographic examination, your exam will either be within normal limits, or there will be one or more abnormalities detected that require the follow-up of your physician. The follow up examination may be anywhere from 6 weeks, to 90 days to 6 months.
ONLY abnormal thermographic examinations require a thermographic follow-up in addition to structural testing (palpation, ultrasound, and mammography)
To tell a patient that they need to have two baseline thermographic examinations, is in the opinion of this author, a misrepresentation of the actual baseline thermographic series. Some manufacturers and their sales representatives may have told doctors that two exams are necessary to complete the baseline exam, in order to "help" the physician or technician buying the camera to see how to make more money.
Establishing the "Medical Necessity" for a second baseline in these cases would be a very hard thing to validate and could be considered a fraudulent misrepresentation.
3) A statement is often made that the camera that is utilized is built specifically for the human body and as such, the protocols under which many thermography labs operate are no longer necessary. This is factually untrue.Some companies are selling their equipment and telling doctors and technicians that because the camera is specifically made to measure human skin, or is a highly accurate camera, or has a special lens - that they do not need to disrobe patients and acclimate them to a standard medical room temperature for thermography.
What happens is that patients do not have time to come to a physiologic thermal equilibrium with the appropriate room temperature and artifice can be introduced into the image. For example, if you were to disrobe and then scratch your breast vigorously without the technician seeing this, a heat signature would be produced that you cause the interpreting physician to think there was an infection in the breast or a cancer.
The thermographic protocol of patient equilibration, often called acclimation in a standard draft free set of conditions is mandatory for the appropriate imaging of the human body. The accuracy or speed of the camera has absolutely nothing to do with this important stem in the exam process.
Of course, if a lab does not have to take the time to acclimate a patient they can move more patients through the office in a day. Protect yourself and your loved ones by being properly informed about the appropriate uses of thermal imaging and the protocols under which they are performed. The websites below will be helpful in providing additional information.
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