In this section you will be able to explore some of the many clinical applications of Thermal Imaging. The language used on these pages will, by its nature, be a little more on the technical side. If we have been forced to go off into medical jargon a bit too much, we will include a quick summary in everyday terms as well.

For the professional reading this information, some "literary" license has been taken for the sake of readability.

On this page, we will explore in overview where Thermal Imaging fits in Australian health care.

Thermal Imaging fills a gap in the clinical imaging landscape by examining the function of the body's tissues.

Sensations like pain, numbness etc. can not be seen in conventional structural imaging methods.  This is because those are problems in the function of the tissues, not the structures. This is where Thermal Imaging comes to the fore.

Thermal imaging can detect alterations to the body's workings that are essentially undetectable by other methods. The sort of alterations of function we consider of prime importance are things like:

1. Pain and inflammation
2. Nerve irritation or dysfunction
3. Angiogenesis (new blood vessel formation)
4. Circulatory incompetencies
5. Treatment efficacy (how well it worked)

Real world applications of Thermal Imaging are:

For pain and inflammation assessments:

1. Musculo-skeletal & articular assessment
2. Assessment of the efficacy Chiropractic, Osteopathic, Physiotherapy, Acupuncture or Myotherapy care
3. Assessment of injury following a trauma
4. Post-surgical assessment
5. Confirmation of certain diagnoses (carpal tunnel syndrome, tennis elbow etc.)

For nerve dysfunction and irritation assessments:

1. Examination and correlation between musculo-skeletal findings and neurological irritation or impairment.
2. Neurological assessments of Reflex Sympathetic Dystrophy, Complex Regional Pain Disorder, Sympathectomies, nerve blocks etc.
3. Investigations of suspected nerve entrapments

For angiogenesis investigations:

1. Breast imaging in conjunction with anatomical screening
2. Skin graft assessment of acceptance or rejection
3. Post skin cancer investigations

For circulatory insufficiencies:

1. Varicose vein mapping
2. Deep Venous Thrombosis and similar conditions
3. Circulatory insufficiency