Medical thermovision: possibilities and prospects of the method

Abstract

Infectious and inflammatory conditions, injuries and malignant neoplasms may raise body temperature, and ischemia may reduce it. Temperature is an important physical and biological quantity and a key human health indicator. It serves as a main indicator in screening of most medical pathologies of both surgical and therapeutic and gynecological profiles. Medical thermovision is a modern diagnostic remote non-invasive informative technique without radiation exposure and contraindications, which is based on the registration of natural thermal radiation emitted by human bodies in the invisible infrared range of the electromagnetic spectrum. As physiological changes precede structural changes observed during classical medical imaging, infrared thermography allows for identification of pathological conditions and neoplasms long before these conditions are confirmed by other diagnostic techniques. Separately, it is necessary to point out that the technique is also an effective way to detect viral diseases. Using medical thermography, the course of the disease may be monitored over time: from screening and diagnosis to follow up of treatment and rehabilitation. The technique is widely used in many fields of medicine and is available for multiple uses. In the article, the current domestic and foreign literature on the use and possibilities of the medical thermography technique in different fields of medicine are analysed. Possibilities and prospects for medical thermovision in the realities of modern medical practice are assessed.