Screening Procedure

Procedure

• The breast thermography appointment takes 45 - 60 minutes to complete.

• The procedure does not require contact with your body and does not involve radiation or invasive techniques.

• You will be asked to fill out the intake forms, disrobe from the waist up and sit comfortably while you allow for the surface temperature of the body to acclimate with the room. This process takes approximately 15 minutes.

• All of this is done in a professional, private and confidential setting.

• Interpretation and report generation is done by a medical professional trained in medical thermology.

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Preparation

• Prior to your visit you must follow instructions that will prepare you for your visit so that accurate heat readings from your breasts can be obtained by the camera.

• These instructions include certain limitations as well as restrictions on physical activity prior to your appointment.

• Some of these instructions require action 2 days prior to your appointment so please read them early.

• Following these instructions assures you of an accurate and high quality infrared image.

 

Acclimation

The exam room has a controlled temperature where you will disrobe from the waist up and you will sit and relax for 15 minutes, in order for your body to reach a steady temperature state.
During this time it is important that you do not touch your body from the waist up, especially the breast or chest area.
You will need to keep your upper arms away from your chest to avoid heat conduction.
For those of you with long hair that hangs below shoulders you will be asked to tie the hair back.
The skin must be at a stable temperature prior to imaging.  If not, the images may be affected by the transfer of heat from other objects and parts of your body, as the camera is ultra-sensitive.

 

Screening

After acclimating, you will be positioned in front of the imaging camera so that all of the surfaces of the breasts, upper chest, and under arms are imaged. This takes less than 5 minutes

 

Interpretation

Your images and health information will then be sent electronically in a secured format to a Board-Certified Clinical Thermologist. Your images will be read and interpreted and a full report and images will be sent back to you by email. Included in the report may be recommendations for further testing.

 

At the initial breast health check it may be advised to come back at 3 or 6 months, prior to annual imaging. This may be, because we are not sure about the anatomy and visual feedback and by repeating the procedure earlier than 1 year, we can rule out any changes and establish a baseline. This baseline, which is specific to you, will be used as the template to compare future screenings to, to monitor the health of your breasts. Remember, your follow-up screenings are the ones that allow the doctor to interpret changes in breast tissue between scans accurately and he will be able to notify you if any changes in your current breast health .