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What's Thermography
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| The background of the application
of thermography in medicine is related to the strong correlation
which exists between the functional conditions of the human
body and its internal temperature.
In normal conditions, the human body is able to keep its
internal temperature constant, no matter what the external
conditions. The heat produced is primarily dispersed to
the environment through the skin. The skin, like any body
with a temperature over absolute zero, radiates electromagnetic
energy in the surrounding environment at an intensity which
is highest in the infrared region of the electromagnetic
spectrum.
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Degeneration processes, fibrosis and circulation
problems, cause a decrease in local temperature of
the affected areas, while inflammation and excessive
blood circulation increase the temperature.
The thermal radiation emitted by the human body can
be measured with special infrared sensors (the main
transduction elements in infrared cameras). These
sensors convert the infrared radiation emitted by
the surface of the skin to electrical voltage values
proportional to the measured temperatures. These voltage
values, can be displayed on a monitor by means of
a specific software using different colours, from
blue to red.
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| Different types and models of
infrared cameras exist on the market. Most of them are used
for technical applications such as: night time monitoring,
fire fighting devices etc. which require different spectral
bands and sensitivity. |
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The THERMO-IEWY infrared camera is created exclusively
for medical applications.
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The Advantages of Thermography
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- Safety for patients and doctors
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Infrared thermography is based on a passive method:
the device does not interact with the patients being
diagnosed, but receives information from them without
affecting them in any way. There are few devices which
operate with passive methods in medicine, among these
are the ECG and EEG.
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The intrinsic safety of this method makes
infrared thermography free from any limitations or
contraindications. Thermographic exams can be performed
on anyone and in any condition, even children and
pregnant women.
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- High reliability
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With infrared thermography all possible epidemiological
limitations, precautions or restrictions disappear. Thanks
to the passive diagnosis method and absence of any patient-doctor
contact, a thermographic exam cannot negatively affect the
patient's health in any way, not even theoretically. Thus,
infrared thermography opens new prospects for its use in
diagnostic screening.
The high reliability of infrared thermography is linked
to the stability of local temperatures for long periods.
It can be used to simply check for variations and successfully
apply thermography as an objective method for monitoring
the evolution of pathological processes.
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- Contact-free examination
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With infrared thermography all possible epidemiological
limitations, precautions or restrictions disappear.
Thanks to the passive diagnosis method and absence
of any patient-doctor contact, a thermographic exam
cannot negatively affect the patient’s health
in any way, not even theoretically.
Thus, infrared thermography opens new prospects for
its use in diagnostic screening.
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Thermography (also called thermal imaging or infrared
imaging) was approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration
(FDA) in 1982 as a supplement to mammography in helping
to detect breast cancer.
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