1 l Veterinary Practice News l August 2017 VeterinaryPracticeNews.com

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Evolution of veterinary infrared thermograpy

This Education Center article was underwritten by Digatherm Digital Thermal Imaging of Ocala, Fla.

By Ronald Riegel, DVMFor The Education Center

The diagnosis of each patient relies on structural and functional information.

Structural information, such as radiographs, ultrasound studies, MRIs, CT scans, and even histology, tell us what already has happened to a patient. Functional information, such as infrared thermography, ECGs, EEGs, blood pressure measurements, gait analysis, and pulmonary airflow tests provide insight to the physiological status within a patient at a specific moment.

During the first few decades of development, from the 1950s to the ’70s, infrared thermography had numerous technological and clinical limitations. The equipment l acked thermal sensitivity; the resolution needed for interpretation, analysis, and storage software; and portability. Equipment even required liquid nitrogen to operate. It is easy to understand why our profession preferred structural instead of functional information. Structural information was much easier to obtain and correlated easily to many clinical disorders.

During the ’80s and ’90s, the veterinary and the medical profession witnessed numerous technological advances that facilitated infrared thermography applications into clinical practice. Scientific improvements allowed the development of complimentary software, battery powered units, the first miniature cryogenic coolers that eliminated the need for liquid nitrogen, and the first uncooled, long wave performance, solid state, focal plane array microbolometer detectors. Each one of these technological developments reduced unit size, increased sensitivity and

resolution, and allowed rudimentary image analysis.

The cost of these early medical-grade infrared thermography units also was prohibitive to the integration into both veterinary and medical clinical practice. In the early to mid-1980s, medical-grade infrared thermography units ranged in price from $75,000 to more than $100,000. These units were sold for use in the medical and veterinary professions but still lacked the resolution and sensitivity needed for daily clinical use.

In 1985, I started to collect isothermal data points with a handheld Everest infrared thermography unit. It had a focal point of 6 inches and a sensitivity of 0.1°C. Measurements were taken and recorded on basic anatomical outlines of the patient. This unit was inexpensive at $3,500 but was very tedious to use

microbolometer cameras that were available for $50,000. This price reduction allowed the equipment to become affordable for a few veterinary clinical practice applications, but the basic design of the equipment was still an extrapolation of the equipment designed for industrial

This platform was developed for multiple applications and was the perfect fit for developing a veterinary specific IR system.

A n i n f r a r e d i m a g i n g application for smartphones was developed in 2014. This application has a 60 x 80 pixel resolution and provides raw thermal data . This system lacked the sensitivity, accuracy, and analysis software needed for application in veterinary practice. These applications have improved over the past few years, but they still lack the sensitivity and accuracy needed in clinical pract ice to detect thermal symmetry. You can see your dog in the park on a dark night, but the thermal data collected is not sufficient to identify areas of circulatory thermal asymmetry.

In 2015, Digatherm LLC worked closely with ICI’s engineers and software developers to provide a veterinary-specific digital thermal imaging system. In early 2018, the following refinements were made to the basic system:• Increased pixelization (resolution):

Each pixel represents a temperature reading. The more temperature points that are measured, the more detailed the image.

• The IR Tablet 640 (640 x 512) has 327,920 points of measurement.

• The IR Tablet 320 (320 x 240) has 76,800 points of measurement.

• Veterinary-specific software: Images are easily captured,

1987AGA Thermovision 782.Scanner senses thermalradiation and produces electronic video signals

displayed on a black and white monitor.

201460x80 phone app;raw thermal data

2015Digatherm LLC introduces the

�rst veterinary speci�c IR system integrated into

Windows based tablets.

2017Digatherm LLC upgrades

pixel resolution:640 x 512: 327,680 pixels/image;

unparalleled image clarity.

2018Digatherm LLC upgrades veterinary

software: advances in ease of imaging, new palettes speci�cally

for patients with long hair, fur, feathers, and the ability to

generate veterinary speci�c reports.

1971American Academy of

Thermography founded.Established medical and

veterinary standards.

1952Medical Single

infrared detector bolometer

1954First Medical Thermography Assoc.German Soc. for Thermograhpy and

Regulation Medicine

Orthopedic Applications of Liquid Crystal Thermography

1962

1964Applications of thermograpy in

veterinary medicine. Smith, WM.

The normal and diseasedflexor tendon in racehorses

Stromberg, B. 1971

AGA Model 6501965

Oscilliscope for displayAGA 650

1985Hand held

point-to-pointmeasurement; 6 inches: .1˚F

1966Images in color

Nine merged imagesExtremely difficult

to focus

reviewed, analyzed, emailed, stored, or incorporated into a comprehensive report template.

• Av a i l a b l e u p d at e s a r e automatically downloaded when connected to the internet and can be upgraded easily to the newest version with Wi-Fi connection.

• This software allows remote access for live interpretation assistance, troubleshooting, and even support while taking live images of a patient.

• Accuracy: Images are accurate to +/- 1°C.

• Sensitivity: Essential in providing information when patients are covered in thick haircoats, scales, feathers, or bare dermis.

• IR Tablet 640: <0.02°C • IR Tablet 320: <0.03°C The limitations of the earlier infrared thermography systems all have been eliminated. The need for digital thermal imaging equipment that is easy to use, accurate, sensitive, affordable, and portable has been satisfied. Our patients will tell us how they are doing at that moment in regard to the circulatory, nervous, and musculoskeletal system (a physiological examination of the patient). This allows the practitioner a more thorough understanding of the current status of the pat ient, early detection of many disorders, a means to objectively monitor any treatment protocol, and a visual client education tool. This technological advancement has opened the door to better care for each of our patients.

Everest infrared thermometer, circa 1985.

and lacked the sensitivity needed to determine thermal symmetry.

In 1987, I purchased the AGA Thermovision 782 unit for $103,000. This model had a temperature range specific for medical applications. However, it lacked portability, required liquid nitrogen, and lacked software necessary to analyze and store patient records.

In 2001, the evolution of this technology resulted in uncooled

AGA Thermovision 782, circa 1987.

IR 640 image, dorsal view of 13 year-old Labrador. Asymmetrical areas of both hypothermic and hyperthermic activity. Note the high resolution and sensitivity; recorded temperature range.

applications; i.e. electrical and structural inspection, search and rescue, public safety, and defense.

In 2009, Infrared Cameras Incorporated (ICI) introduced the 320 x 240 and 640 x 480 pixel resolution radiometric cameras integrated into a Windows-based tablet. These systems offered portability, widescreen viewing, automatic software updates via Wi-Fi, and Bluetooth capability.

Raw thermal data from an iPhone.

The evolution of infrared thermography in veterinary medicine

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