Monday 13 May 2013

My Thermography Experience - Try it!


I was extremely fortunate to be asked to be a ‘model’!   No not for a centrefold or any other such publication, but for a company called Meditherm.

Meditherm have been around for over 20years and have developed a clinical version of a thermographic camera from the industrial versions that have been used in many spheres.These cameras have been tried and tested and can now be found in clinics around the world.

I was at the Meditherm clinic in Cambridge, as a Polish scientist was here to purchase one and take Thermography to Poland for the first time. So a very delightful Ewa Aplas was talked through the process by the owner of Meditherm who himself is an MD. Ewa was extremely good at explaining to me what I needed to do and what would happen.

I'm not far off the age where the dreaded letter from the NHS will be dropping through the door to invite me for my first mammogram.  I had long ago decided that this would not be the route for me. I'm not exactly Barbara Windsor by any stretch of the imagination and the thought of my very small but perfectly adequate for me, breasts, being squashed between two metal plates and subjected to concentrated radiation, I have to say doesn't exactly make me want to rush for that opportunity. Year on year having that procedure I'm sure would eventually result in a problem as a consequence of the scan itself.

So I was very excited to learn of Meditherm and that although Meditherm are not allowed to say that Thermography is a replacement for Mammography, in my humble opinion, being the recipient of whatever the chosen option is, I know which route I prefer.

Just because our NHS has invested its money into mammography, it doesn't make it the best option!

I have had several friends and female relatives that have had mammograms and found it to be a most undignified and painful experience. Any procedure that is so brutal on such delicate tissue and can sometimes require the woman to take pain relief just to have the scan, somehow doesn't logically sit right with me.

With the thermography it was a totally painless, no contact and no radiation experience.

I was lucky enough to have a full body set of images taken and I was asked to undress and pop on one of those delightful tie-up gowns that we are all to familiar with. The usual dilemma of 'tie it up at the front or back' occurred but it didn't matter.  I was given a head band, the sort beauticians use to keep the hair of the face and it was for the same reason, so that a full thermal image could be captured.

I was then asked to sit on a stool with the camera being about 30cm away from me.
Ewa explained that a thermal image would be taken from face on and then I just needed to swivel on the stool to the left and right and then turn 180deg so an image of the back of the head and neck would be possible. All very quick and easy.

Next Ewa asked me to take off the gown and I just had to put my hands behind my head so that the image of the breast/chest area could be taken.  It was all done very sensitively and again the camera remained at 30cm away and I remained seated.

6 images were taken, front, back, both sides and then at 45deg so that a full profile of the breast/axillary area was captured. All I needed to do was swivel on the stool to the required angle.
I was asked to stand for the image of the torso, front and back and then the camera was dropped down to take an image for the legs, front, back and both sides.

The images of course were instantly on the screen and at the end of the session the doctor present gave me a brief overview of what they showed.
The usual process would be that the images would be there for one of Meditherms doctors to review and send back the report.

I received my typed report and all images within 48hrs, no long wait that can add to the trauma of being unwell had I truly been waiting for results due to a serious problem. With Meditherm I had the feedback and recommendations very quickly and then would be set to see to what course of action was needed.

All the images and feedback are kept on the Meditherm database and wherever and whenever another scan takes place, the previous ones are there for comparison. So that a base line can be set, Meditherm take another set of images 3 months apart, so I will be invited back for that to take place I'm told.

It was incredibly impressive in its detail.  I had no cause to seek a test, this was purely out of invitation. I filled in a questionnaire about breast health, but nothing else. The images showed blocked sinus on the right, but was deemed to be clinically insignificant.  This was indeed true, as I do suffer with sinus problem occasionally.
It also showed a slight gall bladder problem and again clinically insignificant. This really amazed me, as I have this occur so rarely and in the main doesn't bother me, but it can every now and again arise as a small issue.
For it to be picked up was incredible.
The only other problem it highlighted was a slight varicose problem on both legs and again, this is so slight but worth having flagged up so that I can do something about it now to prevent it becoming a bigger problem as I get older.

The whole event was over within 10-15 mins.

The report from Meditherm's doctor was very comprehensive and written in a layman's way, so I wasn't faced with a report that needed a medical degree to decipher it.
Meditherm can recommend an ultrasound scan if they see it could be beneficial. The two together are a very good combination

The images are measuring the 'hot spots' and temperature changes that occur in the body. This of course is showing inflammation.  The Meditherm doctors are clearly experts in deciphering these images and can indicate to the patient just what needs attention and what is subclinical.  This of course is great, as it give the patient an opportunity to address the problem in whatever way they seek and can have another scan to check the progress.

Wouldn't this be great to see in every doctors surgery, so quick, easy and hugely informative to form part of a comprehensive diagnosis.

Far better than many things that the NHS find to waste money on.

My vote is for a Thermogram over a mammogram any day.  If there is a problem, I would like to know about  it early so the courses of action open to me are greater.


For more information on Thermography go to www.meditherm.com











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