A New Infrared Thermal Imaging and Its Preliminary Investigation of Breast Disease Assessment

Breast cancer is a common and dreadful disease in women. The aim of this study is to interpret the problem of the thermograms of diseased breasts by establishing the reference standard of thermal symmetry for normal female breasts with a new infrared thermal imaging technology. Forty-four female subjects, including forty normal and four abnormal were examined. The results show that for normal young females, the whole mean temperature of the left breast is slight higher than that of the right breast (0.11+0.16, P<0.001). While the difference of the mean temperature between the left and the right quadrant arrives at about 0.50degC. The histograms of the left and the right breasts show that the temperature distribution features are symmetry for normal females. While for abnormal subjects, the temperature distribution takes on asymmetry. Furthermore, for normal subjects, the temperature distribution curve of the breasts is normal-like, and the temperature distribution curve of the abnormal breast departures normal distribution which is up to the disease types and degrees. Finally, 0.5degC difference between the two breasts of the patient is established as a criterion for thermal symmetry of breasts.