This document presents a seminar on medical thermography and its applications and possibilities. It discusses how infrared thermography works by detecting infrared radiation emitted from the body using an infrared camera. It describes several medical applications of infrared thermography including early detection of breast cancer by identifying abnormal temperature patterns, assessing diabetic foot ulcers, monitoring healing of pediatric fractures, and screening for fevers. The document concludes that infrared thermography is becoming a more accurate medical diagnostic tool and its use for diagnosing vascular disorders will likely increase in the future.

1. A SENIMAR PRESENTATION
ON
MEDICAL THEMOGRAPHY (APPLICATIONS
AND POSSIBILITIES)
BY
AMAECHI MARTINS EMEKA
BIM/15/3167

2. TABLE OF CONTENT
• OBJECTIVES
• INTRODUCTION
• ADVANTAGES OF INFRARED THERMOGRAPHY
• WORKING PRINCIPLE
• APPLICATIONS IN MEDICINE
• EARLY BREAST CANCER DETECTION
• DIABETIC FOOT ULCERATION
• CONCLUSION
• REFERENCE

3. OBJECTIVES
•To review the applications of infrared
thermography in medicine
•To determine the possibilities of infrared
thermography in healthcare

4. INTRODUCTION
• Infrared radiation is a form of electromagnetic radiation that’s
invisible to the human eyes but we can feel as heat, it has a
wavelength within a range of 0.75–1000µm (Lahiri et al 2013).
• Infrared thermography is a science dedicated to the gathering
and processing of thermal information through infrared
measurement devices.
• A thermograph is an instrument that measures the variations in
temperature or infrared radiation on the surface of a body over
a period of time.
• Infrared thermography is comfortable and non invasive, safe for

6. WORKING PRINCIPLE OF A THERMOGRAPH
• Infrared radiation emitted by a body is detected by an infrared
camera.
• The infrared camera consists of the optical arrangements (lens,
mirrors, etc.), Detector elements, cooling system and associated
electronics for image processing. Modern infrared cameras are
equipped with inbuilt visual display.
• The most basic infrared device is a pyrometer and bolometers.
Radiometer
• In setting up a thermograph you consider the room temperature,
thermal radiation of nearby objects, acclimatization period of the
subject.

8. APPLICATIONS IN MEDICINE
• Thermal patterns on the surface of the skin are monitored for abnormal
body activities.
• The body temperature is controlled through a process called
thermoregulation. Metabolism and flexing of muscles during exercise
are the principal sources of heat in body core thereafter heat is
transferred through blood circulation and emanated to the surrounding
through the skin .
• The skin temperature is determined by the rate of blood flow through
arterioles and capillaries adjacent to the skin.
• Infrared thermography provides a reliable method of surface
temperature mapping in disease states where pathology disturbs the

9. Infrared thermography has been successfully applied in several clinical
fields including
• Fever screening: to identify patients with high body temperature.
• Pediatric fractures: to monitor the healing progress of the fractured
bone.
• Assessment of diabetic foot ulceration: to determine the possibility
of foot ulcers occurring in diabetic patients.
• Early breast cancer detection: to detect breast tumor at it’s early
stage.
EARLY DETECTION OF BREAST CANCER

10. • Blood vessels produced by cancerous tumors are simple endothelial tubes
devoid of a muscular layer making them unable to constrict in response to
sympathetic stimulus like a sudden cold stress and show a hyperthermic
pattern due to vasodilatation therefore the action of carrying blood
through the pre-cancerous tissues and metabolic activity around a
growing breast tumor is relatively ever greater than in healthy tissue
(Lahiri et al., 2013).
• In cases where tumors are beneath the skin, induced evaporation using
water and 75% medical ethanol solution as evaporant is sprayed over the
skin surface this enhances thermographic contrast.
• Mammography is the most popular technique for screening breast cancer
but suffers exposure to x-ray radiation, relatively higher cost, problem in
detecting tumors of smaller sizes and low sensitivity for firm breasts of

11. • THERMAL IMAGING OF A 76YEARS OLD FEMALE BREAST. IT CAN BE SEEN CLEARLY
THAT THE LUMP REGION (ENCIRCLED) IS AT AN ELEVATED TEMPERATURE WITH
RESPECT TO THE SURROUNDING NORMAL TISSUES

12. DIABETIC FOOT ULCERATION
• The diabetic foot is characterized by the appearance of tissue lesions or
ulcerations resulting from peripheral neuropathy, peripheral arterial
disease or vascular disorder and secondary infection.
• Studies have linked increased skin temperature with the appearance of
skin lesions on the foot. The difference in the normal skin temperature
for different areas of the body's surface and areas with lesions can be
2.2°C more in surfaces with lesion (Gatt et al., 2018).
• There is no significant difference in temperatures of ulcerated toes and
non-ulcerated toes of the same foot in diabetic patients with
neuroischaemic feet, implying that all the toes of the same foot could be
at risk of developing foot ulcers and infrared thermography can detect
foots at risk.
• Four areas of both foot were studied and the mean temperatures were
measured for.

14. PEDIATRIC FRACTURE
• Most pediatric fractures are caused by falls from the bed and playing
and are treated non-surgically with proper casting therefore requiring
regular radiographic scans for follow up of fracture healing.
• Fractures heal in three phases, the first phase is inflammatory, the
second is reparative and the third is remodeling. The first two phases
are specific for micro vascular invasion, which occurs very quickly in
children because of the state of vascularity. Higher blood flow
consequently raises local temperature in and around the fracture site. In
the third phase a lot of the vascularized fibrous callus is remodeled into
bony bridge, so it is assumed that the local temperature is decreasing.
• The temperature difference between the fractured and the healthy
forearms varied from 0.8ᵒC to 2ᵒC (Curkovic et al., 2015).

15. THERMOGRAPHIC IMAGE OF A NORMAL HAND AND A FRACTURED HAND WITH
CAST

16. CONCLUSION
• Infrared thermal imaging is becoming a more accurate
alternate medical diagnostic tool for abnormal
temperature pattern measurements due to its better
temperature sensitivity, spatial resolution and non-
contact nature.
• In the coming years use of infrared thermography in
medical field for diagnosis of vascular disorders is
most likely to surge.

17. REFERENCE
• ASTASIO-PICADO A, ESCAMILLA MARTÍNEZ E, MARTÍNEZ NOVA A, SÁNCHEZ
RODRÍGUEZ R, GÓMEZ-MARTÍN B. THERMAL MAP OF THE DIABETIC FOOT
USING INFRARED THERMOGRAPHY. INFRARED PHYS TECHNOL. 2018;93.
• GATT A, FALZON O, CASSAR K, CAMILLERI KP, GAUCI J, ELLUL C, ET AL. THE
APPLICATION OF MEDICAL THERMOGRAPHY TO DISCRIMINATE
NEUROISCHEMIC TOE ULCERATION IN THE DIABETIC FOOT. INT J LOW
EXTREM WOUNDS. 2018;17(2).
• BAGAVATHIAPPAN S, LAHIRI BB, SARAVANAN T, PHILIP J, JAYAKUMAR T.
INFRARED PHYSICS & TECHNOLOGY INFRARED THERMOGRAPHY FOR
CONDITION MONITORING – A REVIEW. INFRARED PHYS TECHNOL [INTERNET].
2013;60:35–55.
• ĆURKOVIĆ S, ANTABAK A, HALUŽAN D, LUETIĆ T, PRLIĆ I, ŠIŠKO J. MEDICAL
THERMOGRAPHY (DIGITAL INFRARED THERMAL IMAGING – DITI) IN
PAEDIATRIC FOREARM FRACTURES – A PILOT STUDY. INJURY. 2015;46.