Thermal imaging has been widely studied for the detection of breast cancer. In an early application, passive thermal imaging has been used to image the temperature distribution pattern of the skin. Because cancer cells grow faster than healthy cells, their temperature can be a few degrees higher than healthy cells and they will appear as a hot area on the skin. Several large-scale studies have been conducted using passive thermal imaging, and the results have been generally positive.
Today's thermal imaging studies are focused on active methods, e.g., introducing warm and cold conditions on the skin to induce a transient skin temperature response, that can be related to the conditions of skin or tissue under skin. This research is ongoing.
One thermal imaging technique, however, owing to its quantitative and depth-resolved imaging capability, may overcome the qualitative limitation. Thermal tomography (TT) measures the thermal effusivity of skin tissue. By measuring effusivity, researchers can detect damaged skin cells that have different effusivity values compared to those of healthy skin cells. The effusivity measurement may serve as an indicator of skin tissue health.
Benefits
- Minimal infection risk and interruption of therapy
- Allows for early treatment to minimize reaction and interruption of therapy
- Wide use and availability
- Allows effective and early treatment for detected toxicity
- Enhancing usefulness to doctors and patients
Commercialization Status
- Method is patent-protected
- Available for license
More info: Terry Maynard, 630-252-9771, or tmaynard@anl.gov
