Q: How are mammograms and thermograms different from each other?
A: The two technologies look at different aspects of cancer. Thermography looks at abnormal blood vessel formation, which is an early event in the life of a cancer. Mammography looks at masses (1 centimeter or larger) and calcification patterns, which are later developments. Mammography cannot visualize tiny tumors with new vessels, which show up on thermography. Conversely, tumors large enough to show up on mammography don’t always have thermographically abnormal vessels.
So, each technique is weak where the other is strong. The techniques are complementary. It is not a case of either one or the other.

Q. Who certifies your thermographers?
A. Thermography technicians are trained and certified by the American College of Clinical Thermology at Duke University. The American College of Clinical Thermology is an accredited medical association.

Q. Who reads the images and reports?
A. Images are sent to an interpretation service who employ medical doctors who are all board certified as thermologists by the American College of Clinical Thermology at Duke University. These doctors have many years experience and are able to ask for second opinions whenever necessary.

Q. How quickly will I get my report back?
A. Reports are normally ready within 48 hours. You may collect your report when it is ready or allow for mailing time. If you need your report within 24 hours you can pay an ‘urgent’ fee.

Q. I was told that grayscale thermograms were higher resolution than color, why don't you show grayscale?
A. Nowadays there is no difference in resolution between color and grayscale with modern digitized images. When images were viewed on an old TV screen, it took three phosphors on the cathode ray tube to make one color dot….. it only takes one phosphor to make a shade of grey, the resolution in black and white therefore, would be three times greater than it was in color.

Q. What is the difference between high definition thermography and other types ?
A. Just about all modern cameras provide high-definition images.  The ‘definition’ of a thermogram relates to how many individual temperature measurements are taken to build the image. The actual definition is not as important as how accurate and sensitive those temperature measurements are. The higher the definition, the better the picture will look but this does not mean that the accuracy is any better.
Describing a thermogram as ‘high definition’ maybe confusing and misleading as most so-called high-definition images are produced by software manipulation of the data.
Low definition would be considered below 160 x 120 pixels. Industry standard is between 160 x 120 up to  320 x 240 pixels. High-definition would be considered above this and can be as high as 640 x 512 pixels.

Q. why do I need to come back in three months for another breast study ?
A. The most accurate result we can produce is change over time. Before we can start to evaluate any changes, we need to establish an accurate and stable baseline for you. This baseline represents your unique thermal fingerprint, which will only be altered by developing pathology. A baseline cannot be established with only one study, as we would have no way of knowing if this is your normal pattern or if it is actually changing at the time of the first exam. By comparing two studies three months apart we are able to judge if your breast physiology is stable and suitable to be used as your normal baseline and safe for continued annual screening.  The reason a three-month interval is used relates to the period of time it takes for blood vessels to show change... a period of time less than three months may miss a significant change while one of more than three months can miss a significant change that may have already taken place.  There is NO substitute for establishing an accurate baseline. A single study cannot do this.

Q. I hear from some people that you need to "cold stress" the patient. What is "cold stressing"? Do I really need to do it?
A. Cold stressing is a test to measure sympathetic function, It is a useful test for a number of conditions including RSD (Reflex Sympathetic Dystrophy); a disease relating to neurological dysfunction.  Protocols used with the current camera system for breast screening do not require routine cold stressing but it may be requested by a referring physician or by the interpreting physician.