Objective detection of breast cancer by dynamic area telethermometry (DAT)

Classical thermology involves visual localization of abnormalities in the spatial distribution of temperature over human skin. Dynamic area telethermometry (DAT), on the other hand, which extracts diagnostic information from temporal changes in skin temperature, yields quantitative information on the detailed structure of skin temperature modulation including the underlying frequencies and their corresponding relative amplitudes. Significantly abnormal values of these parameters, which quantitatively describe the dynamics of skin perfusion, can be of great diagnostic importance. DAT is typical of the new trend in thermology to focus on dynamic physiological rather than on anatomical thermal manifestations of disease. DAT focuses on rapid periodic changes in skin temperature, caused by cardiogenic pulsatile hemodynamics as well as by neuronal regulation of blood flow in the vasculature. Quantitative analysis of these changes can reveal pathology in the cardiovascular or neuronal systems, as well as pathologies that affect the function of the latter. Using this methodology, the authors were able to demonstrate high significant differences between cancerous breasts and breasts with no known pathology or breasts with benign abnormalities