What is a thermogram?
All women are told to get a mammogram to reduce your chances of getting cancer but what if there was a a better and not so intrusive way to detect changes? What if it were safer and caused not pain but total gain, would you try it?
Clinical Thermography, or infrared thermography thermal imaging and thermal video are examples of infrared imaging science. As per Wikipedia, thermographic camera usually detect radiation in the long -infrared range of the electromagnetic spectrum and produce images of that radiation, called thermograms. Since infrared radiation is emitted by all objects with a temperature above absolute zero according to the black body radiation law, thermography makes it possible to see one’s environment with or without visible illumination.
Finding breast cancer early will enable woman to undergo less invasive treatments but there is a lot of debate about the methods that are used for screening. The most commonly used method is the mammogram and this is also the one that is highly recommended.
When a woman receives a monogram the breast is pressed between two plates and an X-ray. is transmitted through her breast tissue. The captured images are called mammograms. When a woman has a dense breast tissue it will appear white on the mammogram. The X-ray can also see the presence of tumors also appearing white on the film. The other tissues of the breast will appear grey on the film. This is low density fatty tissue of the breast. You can see that the white which can be tumors or even calcium buildups, would be easy to see on the film. Some evidence suggests that mammography screening is associated with a reduction in the number of women who die from breast cancer. But other experts say that it provides no benefit.
There are potential risks that women should consider that are associated with mammogram. Because they require repeated exposure to radiation it can cause a risk of cancer. They can also lead to non-invasive cancers being diagnosed and treated when a treatment is not necessarily required. They are absolutely not effective for women with dense breast tissue or breast implants, and they can also cause women to choose double mastectomies as a preventive measure. They are proven to have a very high rate of false positive results. These false results lead to unnecessary biopsies and additional testing. False results are positive results which suggest that cancer is there when it is not.
Because of this debate there are now suggested alternatives for breast care.Thermography is a test that detects and records temperature changes on the surface of the skin. When screening the breast the thermal camera uses infrared to take a picture of the different temperatures in the breast and displays them as a heat map. If there is cancerous growth in the breast it will show up as a higher temperature.
The benefits to this is that is is non-invasive and a non-contact procedure. Your breasts will not be squeezed and flattened between plates and there is no radiation so it can be safely used without threat. The detection of vascular changes in breast tissue will show up years in advance of other screening methods and it can be used for all women even those with implants or with dense breast tissue. If a woman is going through hormonal changes the results will not be affected. As with the mammogram there is also a high false-positive rate so the difference between them is minimal when it comes to results however thermograms are rarely covered by insurance which really stinks.
Truly if a positive is detected no matter which test you choose a biopsy is the only test that can provide a definite diagnosis. Whatever decision you make, look at all the positives and negatives and make sure you are supported and at peace with your decision. Choose what you feel is right for you. In my opinion thermograms should be covered by insurance, less invasive and in reality the same results.
