Posts Tagged ‘digital infrared thermal imaging’

Medical Thermography Cameras Help Detect Lameness in Horses

Monday, May 7th, 2012

Thermographic scans of horses helped detect and treat their problemsMedical thermography cameras detect heat patterns in the body. Since horses cannot communicate the location of their pain, medical thermography cameras can fill the gap to detect and prevent lameness.

An examination by a veterinarian often explains a horse’s leg problems and provides direction for treatment. However, sometimes a physical examination does not offer enough guidance for treatment. Horses have minor injuries that may result in permanent harm. They need to be identified and treated.

Some equine injuries can go for a long time without a diagnosis. Sometimes the injuries are tricky to identify using typical veterinarian examinations. A thermography camera (Digital Infrared Thermographic Imaging, or DITI) can quickly and easily make a thermographic image of the entire horse. These thermographic scans often show stress sites, multiple injuries, or referred pain syndromes in horses. These can very often indicate the causes, and/or the symptoms, of an equine problem.

Medical thermographic scans are non-invasive. The technique involves no risks, and there are never side effects. An x-ray bombards the body with radiation and requires the horse be anesthisized. The thermography camera detects heat emitted by the body.

The horse owner has the option of getting a thermographic image of the entire horse, or only suspect areas.

The equine body is naturally symmetric, and thermal patterns should be the same on both sides of the body (in most cases). Thermographic scans accurately show heat patterns allowing the veterinary thermologist to look for asymmetry to indicate abnormal function or physiology. Hyperthermic patterns (warmer temperatures) will display as warmer colors like yellow or red. Hypothermic patterns will display as cooler colors like blue. Vets can use these scans to both identify soft-tissue and skeletal problems in horses andmonitor therapy.

At Clinical Thermography Business, we recommend and sell the Meditherm med2000 IRIS 7.5 camera for both human and animal use. This camera is designed specifically for medical thermographic use.

Click to learn why this camera is best for medical thermography.

Thermography Cameras and Thermal Drift

Monday, November 7th, 2011

Are all cameras the same? What about thermal drift?

Why can’t an industrial thermal camera be used for medical thermography to screen for disease and problems in the body? Are all thermography cameras the same?

Meditherm’s medical thermography cameras are specifically designed for medical thermography. One feature that sets Meditherm cameras apart from industrial cameras are how it compensates for “thermal drift.”

Thermal drift, or the “drift factor” of a thermal camera, should be less than 0.2 degrees centigrade. A drift factor higher than that leads to poor reproducibility.

Industrial thermography cameras have a “lens correction” built in because they use optical lenses to focus and zoom. You have seen optical lenses because ordinary cameras also use optical lenses. Focus and zoom allow the camera to look at objects from varying distances. Optical lenses will absorb about 17% of the emitted radiation, which needs to be corrected  by the software.

Medical thermography camera specifications include:

  1. Emissivity detection close to 100%
  2. No loss of accuracy or sensitivity due to use of optical lens (no attenuation)
  3. Correct range of detection: 10 microns
  4. (more…)