Surgery – Truss – Pad
Patent
1981-12-18
1984-05-01
Cohen, Lee S.
Surgery
Truss
Pad
364415, A61B 500
Patent
active
044455160
DESCRIPTION:
BRIEF SUMMARY
The present invention relates to a process for the digitization and display of thermographic pictures of biological or technical structures in which the temperature values at each image point of a thermogram is digitized and preferably displayed on a viewing screen.
Thermograms or thermographic pictures can be used for a vanity of purposes in order to determine and examine the temperature distributions of biological or technical structures. It is difficult in many cases, however, as for example in a record produced by infra-red photography, to distinguish between locally limited normal temperature distributions and locally limited "abnormal" temperatures.
It is known to those skilled in the art that human tumors (carcinomas) have an "abnormal" temperature behavior which differs from the body shell. In order to detect tumors by means of thermography it has been customary to produce thermographic records of the region to be examined by a thermographic camera and then display these records,--using an analog, digital converter--on a viewing screen. In order to be able to identify tumors more easily, the temperature of the body is reduced by cooling. Since the diseased region of the body follows this change in temperature only to a limited extent the locally differentiated temperature behavior enables conclusions to be drawn with respect to the possible presence of tumors. This method has been used in particular for the detection of breast cancer. The evaluation of the records in the above prior art method visually, i.e. carcinomas were identified on the basis of different gray or color values of the thermographic image.
Due to the considerable uncertainty inherent in this evaluation, thermography has not been accepted in actual practice for the detection of foci of diseases in the human body.
The object of the present invention is to provide a method by which it is possible to recognize abnormal temperature distributions even if they are very small or the corresponding regions differ only slightly in temperature from the adjacent temperatures.
The above object is achieved in accordance with the present invention by calculating the slope of the local change in temperature, i.e. the temperature gradient value for each image point on the basis of the image point temperature and the measured temperature values of its neighboring points and by displaying the local distribution of the temperature gradient for a selected image region. The determination of the temperature gradients for each image point is effected preferably by a process computer whose output signals are displayed as a picture or pictures.
Another embodiment for determining the temperature gradients for each image point includes subjecting the thermographic signals to a Fourier analysis and filtering out, and possibly displaying, only high spatial frequencies.
In principle, it is unimportant by what algorithm the temperature gradient values are ascertained, since computers may be used to compute the desired values.
Minor temperature changes due to the occurrence of dangerous situations, particularly in the medical field, one difficult to recognize in a pictorial display of the temperature values due to their inconspicuousness. However the display of the temperature gradients for each image or for a selected region is far more significant.
It is advantageous to establish in advance staggered threshold values for the temperature gradient values and ascribe color shades to the value ranges thus obtained. The values of the temperature gradients then appear in different colors in the pictorial display so that it is possible to easily recognize danger regions.
It is aso possible to assign the temperature-gradient values a pre-selectable threshold-value which, for instance, delimits the pathological region and reproduces in black and white or other single-color display those measured values which lie below and above the threshold values.
The present invention can be used in various fields of the natural sciences and technology and particularly in the field o
REFERENCES:
patent: 3699813 (1972-10-01), Lamb
patent: 3970074 (1976-07-01), Mogos et al.
patent: 4186748 (1980-02-01), Schlager
patent: 4218707 (1980-08-01), Reed et al.
patent: 4275741 (1981-06-01), Edrich
"Microprocessors Enhance Thermograms to Aid Diagnosis of Breast Tumors", Electronics; vol. 49, No. 14, 7-1976, p. 8E.
Haas Rudiger
Kassen Folkert
Wollnik Hermann
Carl Zeiss-Stiftung
Cohen Lee S.
Sykes Angela D.
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