Breast Thermography

 

Medical Thermography offers women of all ages the opportunity to have a preventative breast health check with a difference.

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The highly sensitive thermal imaging camera is capable of accurately measuring the skin surface temperature with minute temperature differences of less than 0.05°C on every mm2 on the skin, detecting any irregularities. 

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Thermography is a simple test of physiology, meaning a test showing us how the body is functioning, and, like ultrasound and mammography, it can help to identify underlying conditions and risk factors which may not be determined in any other way.

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Thermography is preventive health assessment tool, which can help you and your practitioner identify metabolic changes early and can warn us of the development of breast disease at the earliest possible time and is useful for those women who seek a non-invasive and non-radiation option to regular breast screening or as an addition to other screening tests, like ultrasound and mammography.

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Medical Thermography, to date, is the only test available that looks at function rather than structure, monitors your breast health by looking for any irregular or abnormal blood flow in the breasts and can show us any thermal changes between each screening. An abnormal blood flow (neo-vascularity) in one particular area is a strong indicator for the development of malignancy, because a tumour needs a blood supply to feed it. This process is usually visible earlier with thermal imaging compared to when a mammogram can “see” a tumour. Mammography visualises the end of a disease process and can show tumours only when they are well established.

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Besides looking for this unusual blood supply, we can monitor general changes, like fibrocystic activity, hormone activity (usually caused by oestrogen dominance), lymph congestion or inflammatory processes, like inflammatory breast cancer, a type of cancer that does not show up on a mammogram, because there are no lumps.

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Thermography is equally accurate in all age groups: dense breast tissue (mainly of younger women but not exclusively) is not relevant to the accuracy of thermography compared to mammography, since we do not need to look deep inside the breasts to make an assessment of health. Mammography however is significantly less accurate in this younger age group due to breast density.

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Medical Thermography has proven itself as a safe early-risk marker for breast disease​ and is an excellent method for monitoring treatment results. ​By starting a monitoring routine early -  especially in the group of younger women who are not yet offered conventional mammography - you can accurately monitor this group for breast disease. Breast thermography can start as young as early 20ties, but at age 30 would be a very good time to start doing something to keep your breasts well.

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Thermography has many advantages

• Prevention: early observation of changes is still the most important factor in the outcome of breast disease. 

• Radiation-free: DITI is 100% safe to use for both patient and practitioner.

• Non-invasive: you don’t need to be touched or squashed.

• A larger area can be seen, including the thyroid and lymph glands in the armpits, often involved in breast disease.

• Monitoring treatment and recovery: DITI can help you monitor the healing process after surgery, chemo- or radiation therapy.

• Breast density plays no role: any woman of any age can be screened with the same accuracy.

• Thermography is reliable due to its state-of-the-art imaging technology and professional interpretation services.

• Breast implants and mastectomies: you can be screened even if you have implants or when you have lost your breast due to surgery

• Men too can be screened for breast disease: 1% of all breast cancers detected in the US are in men

The appointment - what happens?

The appointment takes about 1 hour, of which approx. 10 minutes is for the actual screening. 15 Minutes is needed for you to acclamatise to the room temperature, so that skin temperature measurements are going to be accurate. Please aware that you need to be partly undressed. In this hour we have time to talk about other health issues, which may be relevant to the screening and we have a look at your images.

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You will also be given information to take home on how to keep your breasts healthy, because the aim for me as holistic practitioner is to give you, besides the health assessment, also some practical tools on how to keep your breasts as happy as possible for as long as possible.

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After the initial breast screening, you may need to come back for a follow up at 3 or 6 months if the result of the test raise any concerns. This is an extra check and to see if anything has changed between the 2 screenings that could alert us to possible trouble. You may also be advised on an additional structural screening test, like an ultrasound or mammogram, to clarify what the condition is likely to be. A biopsy could be ordered to rule out malignancy.

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An additional test at 3 or 6 months may also be required to be able to  establish your personal baseline. Each woman’s breasts have a different thermal fingerprint so to speak and to be able to make an accurate assessment of your current and future breast health, we need to assess which thermal patterns are normal for you by comparing one with the other.

Once we have your baseline, you will be advised to come back on a yearly basis, especially recommended for younger women and women going through the menopause, since hormones are continuously changing. Thermography, as with any other screening method, is only valuable when tests are done at regular intervals to compare the screenings. Therefore yearly thermal checks are advisable to build an accurate history of how your breasts are functioning.

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A positive thermogram is a strong indicator for a higher risk of developing breast disease in the future

A valuable aspect of breast thermography is that is predictive of the risk of disease in the future. Studies exploring the biology of cancers have shown that the amount of thermo-vascular activity in the breast is directly proportional to the aggressiveness of the tumour. As such, infrared imaging provides the clinician with an invaluable tool in prognosis and treatment monitoring¹.

¹§25.6 Infrared Imaging as a Prognostic Indicator - Biomedical Thermography hand book

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Your report

Your written medical information and images are sent off securely by email to a professional medical interpretation service, where everything is analysed.

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The report you receive is a full medical report, written for other medically trained professionals, but I will include comments in the email to make sure you can understand what the main observations were and explain any advice given by the interpretation doctor. For in-depth discussion regarding the findings an appointment with your GP or specialist would be appropriate.

If you would like to speak with me regarding the report results or holistic advice in relation to your health issues, then I can offer you a 15 minute free appointment by telephone, Facetime, Zoom or Skype.