Whole Health Chicago

Breast Thermography

DITI (digital infrared thermal imaging), better known as breast thermography, is a non-invasive, radiation-free diagnostic technique that visualizes skin temperature. We use a completely painless, harmless infrared scanning device to convert heat from your skin into electrical impulses that are sent to a color TV monitor. The resulting image is called a thermogram and it graphically maps your body temperature.

A thermogram can show abnormalities or changes in body tissue. We use thermography primarily in the evaluation of breast disorders, including cancer, to help with early detection, monitor abnormal physiology, and establish risk factors. The faster a malignant tumor grows, the more infrared radiation (heat) it generates. When used along with physical examination and other diagnostic procedures when necessary, you get the best possible evaluation of breast health.

The 15-minute test is a valuable tool for alerting your primary care physician to the possibility of early breast cancer and improves the chances of detecting tumors in the interval between mammograms.

Thermography is also used for women between 30 and 50 whose denser breast tissue makes it challenging for mammography to identify suspicious areas. It provides a “clinical marker,” alerting the doctor or mammogram technician that a specific area requires particularly close examination. For younger women particularly, results from thermography can lead to earlier breast cancer detection.

All patient thermograms are kept on record and form a baseline for future evaluations.

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