Written by Gaea Powell | 03 November 2009

Once the patient has received a second thermogram aThermal Fingerprint is created. Depending on a women’s age and risk assessment, a second thermogram is recommended at 90 days, 6 months or up to a year.

• Age 20 - Initial thermogram
• Age 20 – 29 - Thermogram every 3 years
• Age 30 and over – Annual thermogram 
• High-risk clients - As frequently as needed

Once the Thermal Fingerprint is established a patient’s future thermograms are kept on record to form a baseline thermal profile for all future routine evaluations. If the unique thermal profile changes, thermal imaging empowers the patient with an opportunity to develop a risk assessment and management program with their healthcare provider for better breast health.
Thermograms should be as common as the pap test at a woman's annual gynecological examination.
Consider the case of a young woman, whose baseline breast thermogram indicates normal and healthy breasts. Each year the woman receives her thermogram, and each year her breasts appear healthy. Then, one examination shows the vein structure in one breast has changed slightly — so slightly that the breast's thermal score maintains its normal classification. The other breast remained as it always has. This is probable cause for warning flags. Thermal symmetry is broken and vascular changes have occurred.
Careful follow-up of the patient is warranted. While this behavior is often an indication of the presence of pre-cancerous tissue, the ultimate discovery of a tumor requires magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) which is recommended over the use of a mammogram.
The thermal imaging system merely detects and records the infrared radiation that is emitting from the patient’s body. Utilizing sophisticated infrared technology and innovative computer software, thermal imaging technicians simply capture a digitized image of the breast in the form of an infrared thermogram or heat picture.
According to a report in the American Journal of Radiology, breast thermography has 99% sensitivity, 90% specificity, and 90% accuracy in detecting breast cancer in women under age 55. There is no other screening method that has as high of efficacy as breast thermography: the sensitivity for physical breast examinations (feeling for lumps) is 18%, mammography is 70%, and MRI is 71%.
Any health conscious individual seeking potential early warning signs of health concerns can utilize this highly sensitive technology to detect warning signs that can lead to early detection and/or intervention, before a condition reduces quality of life.