CA: A Cancer Journal for Clinicians, Vol 18, 314-321, Copyright
© 1968 by American Cancer Society
The Present Status of Mammary Thermography
JoAnn D. Haberman M.D.1
1 Assistant Professor in Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation and Assistant Professor in Radiology, Temple University School of Medicine, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
Thermography is a passive process completely safe and applicable to serial evaluations. The procedure is simple to perform, is painless, and requires no preparation. Instruments capable of producing thermograms in a fraction of a second are now available. As the very recent development of color thermography indicates, we can expect continued improvements in technology which will facilitate its medical applications. It is reasonable to assume that as more information is gained concerning thermobiology and the process of thermal pattern production the accuracy of thermogram evaluation will improve.
Available data indicate a high degree of sensitivity for thermography. When combined with physical examination no cancers were missed. The total number of reported cases is still small from a statistical point of view and the percentages reported may change as larger studies become available for analysis. However, it is believed that the composite set of data contained in this report indicates the diagnostic potential of this modality.
Encouraging was the detection of two lesions by thermography while they were still nonpalpable, and a sensitivity rate of 86.9 percent argues favorably for thermography's use as a screening tool.
