Temperature differences are associated with malignancy on lung lesions: a clinical study

BACKGROUND: Although new endoscopic techniques can enhance the ability to detect a suspicious lung lesion, the primary diagnosis still depends on subjective visual assessment. We evaluated whether thermal heterogeneity of solid tumors, in bronchial epithelium, constitutes an additional marker for the diagnosis of benign and malignant lesions. METHODS: A new method, developed in our institute, is introduced in order to detect temperature in human pulmonary epithelium, in vivo. This method is based on a thermography catheter, which passes the biopsy channel of the fiber optic bronchoscope. We calculated the temperature differences (ΔT) between the lesion and a normal bronchial epithelium area on 22 lesions of 20 subjects, 50 – 65 years old. RESULTS: Eleven lesions were benign and 11 were malignant, according to the biopsy histology followed the thermography procedure. We found significant differences of ÄT between patients with benign and malignant tumor (0.71 ± 0.6 vs. 1.23 ± 0.4°C, p < 0.05). Logistic regression analysis showed that 1-Celsius degree differences between normal tissue and suspicious lesion six-fold the probability of malignancy (odds ratio = 6.18, 95% CI 0.89 – 42.7). Also, ΔT values greater than 1.05°C, constitutes a crucial point for the discrimination of malignancy, in bronchial epithelium, with sensitivity (64%) and specificity (91%). CONCLUSION: These findings suggest that the calculated ΔT between normal tissue and a neoplastic area could be a useful criterion for the diagnosis of malignancy in tumors of lung lesions

Pregnancy postponement and childlessness leads to chronic hypervascularity of the breasts and cancer risk

Epidemiologists have established that women with small families, and particularly nulliparae, are prone to develop breast cancer later in life. We report that physiological mammary hypervascularity may be an intermediate reason against the background that breast-core vascularity is normal in pregnancy but pathological in the vascularisation of cancer. We examined breast ‘core’ vascularity in nulliparae during their potential reproductive life and in parous women after their last birth but before their menopause. Fifty clinically normal pre-menopausal non-pregnant women (100 breasts) were studied daily for one ‘luteal positive’ menstrual cycle. Their parity history varied from zero to five babies. Under controlled domestic conditions each wore a special electronic thermometric bra to automatically record breast ‘core’ temperature changes as a measure of mammary tissue blood flow. In the nulliparae there was a rise of breast vascularity throughout reproductive life. In the parous women, a year or so after each birth, breast vascularity was reset at a lower level than before the pregnancy; thereafter, as in nulliparae, there was progressive increase in mammary vascularity until the menopause

Application of infrared thermography in computer aided diagnosis

The invention of thermography, in the 1950s, posed a formidable problem to the research community: What is the relationship between disease and heat radiation captured with Infrared (IR) cameras? The research community responded with a continuous effort to find this crucial relationship. This effort was aided by advances in processing techniques, improved sensitivity and spatial resolution of thermal sensors. However, despite this progress fundamental issues with this imaging modality still remain. The main problem is that the link between disease and heat radiation is complex and in many cases even non-linear. Furthermore, the change in heat radiation as well as the change in radiation pattern, which indicate disease, is minute. On a technical level, this poses high requirements on image capturing and processing. On a more abstract level, these problems lead to inter-observer variability and on an even more abstract level they lead to a lack of trust in this imaging modality. In this review, we adopt the position that these problems can only be solved through a strict application of scientific principles and objective performance assessment. Computing machinery is inherently objective; this helps us to apply scientific principles in a transparent way and to assess the performance results. As a consequence, we aim to promote thermography based Computer-Aided Diagnosis (CAD) systems. Another benefit of CAD systems comes from the fact that the diagnostic accuracy is linked to the capability of the computing machinery and, in general, computers become ever more potent. We predict that a pervasive application of computers and networking technology in medicine will help us to overcome the shortcomings of any single imaging modality and this will pave the way for integrated health care systems which maximize the quality of patient care

rhetoric and therapeutics in celsus' de medicina

Ce travail de recherche a pour but d'analyser les relations entre le domaine de la rhétorique et les divers aspects de la thérapeutique exposée par Celse, encyclopédiste romain du 1er siècle ap. J.­ C., dans son livre intitulé De Medicina, ou Sur la Médecine. Il s'agit principalement de tenter d'offrir une approche globale de l'ouvrage celsien, qui prenne en compte tous ses aspects, depuis sa réalisation par l'auteur jusqu'à sa possible mise en pratique par un soignant, professionnel ou amateur.This PhD thesis aims at analyzing the relationship between rhetoric and therapeutiques exposed by Celsus, a Roman encyclopaedist from the 1st century AD, in his De Medieina, or On Medicina. Our main concem is to try and provide with a global approach of Celsus' worlc, taking into account every single aspect of it, from its writing to its putting into practice by a professional or amateur healer

Dispositif expérimental d'étude de la croissance cristalline à partir de bains fondus

Un appareil a été réalisé pour déterminer par thermométrie infrarouge la distribution des températures à la surface d'un système cristal-bain fondu, et utilisé pour la mesure du facteur d'émission normale, de la conductibilité thermique et des vitesses de croissance et de décroissance de l'étain, du bismuth et du plomb à l'état liquide et à l'état cristallin en fonction de l'orientation cristallographique

rhetoric and therapeutics in celsus' de medicina

Ce travail de recherche a pour but d'analyser les relations entre le domaine de la rhétorique et les divers aspects de la thérapeutique exposée par Celse, encyclopédiste romain du 1er siècle ap. J.­ C., dans son livre intitulé De Medicina, ou Sur la Médecine. Il s'agit principalement de tenter d'offrir une approche globale de l'ouvrage celsien, qui prenne en compte tous ses aspects, depuis sa réalisation par l'auteur jusqu'à sa possible mise en pratique par un soignant, professionnel ou amateur.This PhD thesis aims at analyzing the relationship between rhetoric and therapeutiques exposed by Celsus, a Roman encyclopaedist from the 1st century AD, in his De Medieina, or On Medicina. Our main concem is to try and provide with a global approach of Celsus' worlc, taking into account every single aspect of it, from its writing to its putting into practice by a professional or amateur healer

APPLICATION DES CRISTAUX LIQUIDES CHOLESTÉRIQUES A LA THERMOGRAPHIE CUTANÉE

Les auteurs rappellent brièvement le principe de la thermographie par les cristaux liquides et décrivent la technique utilisée pour étudier la répartition thermique sur la surface cutanée humaine ; ils présentent et discutent grâce à des confrontations avec la thermographie infrarouge, quelques résultats obtenus en pratique clinique.The authors briefly recall the principle of the liquid crystal thermography and describe the techniques used for the study of the thermal pattern on the human cutaneous surface. They present and discuss, thanks to comparisons with the infrared thermography, some clinical results