Modalities and clinical applications of dynamic infrared imaging

Dynamic infrared imaging (DIRI), the most effective modality of dynamic area telethermometry (DAT), involves the acquisition of hundreds to thousands of consecutive thermal images, deriving information from the modulation of temperature and of thermal spatial distribution of small subareas. Four groups of clinical applications of dynamic infrared imaging are reviewed from the standpoint of their data processing following FFT analysis of temperature modulation and modulation of perfusion of the cutaneous capillary bed. These include: 1. Visual assessment of spatial abnormalities in perfusion kinetics that can be used in diagnosis of joint disease and of advanced cancer, as well as visual identification of abnormalities in subcutaneous circulation. 2. Objective computerized diagnosis of systemic chronic neuronal disorders that may affect modulation amplitudes and their spatial distribution. 3. Objective computerized detection of cancer, breast and skin cancer in particular, by their effect on the spatial distribution of attenuated subareas at specific frequencies of modulation. 4. Objective assessment of transient mental stress (psychological testing) and of exposure to neurotoxic agents that may affect modulation amplitudes and their distribution over limited periods of time. Following time-dependent changes in temperature modulation at specific frequencies one can assess the severity of functional perturbation of the autonomic nervous system.