The technology, in which temperature variations in the skin are measured, is being used by some women as a complement to a mammogram.
By SUSAN ASCHOFF
Published April 13, 2004
LUTZ - Vicki Southard is 47, and she has never had a mammogram. She says she will get one. But first, she has traveled from Clearwater to an integrative medicine practitioner in Lutz for a different kind of breast screening.
No machine will touch her. No X-rays will be taken.
Instead, an infrared camera will measure variations in the temperature of her skin. Hot spots could indicate trouble.
"I sort of procrastinated all these years. I didn't want to hear bad news," says Southard of skirting medical guidelines that call for an annual mammogram beginning at 40. The mother of two says she eats a healthy diet, exercises and takes supplements from enzymes to flax seed. She decided to go ahead with a thermogram breast screening at the recommendation of her primary caregiver, a midwife.
"It's time," says Southard.
Themography has been used since the 1950s to detect inflammation in the body, from arthritic joints to hairline fractures to dental infections, practitioners say. The same technology is employed to diagnose leaky buildings.
The American Medical Association does not recommend thermograms, saying there is not enough proof they are an effective diagnostic tool. But recent advancements, including digital imaging and improved training for clinicians, have sharpened the science, even skeptics concede.
Maria Belluccio, a clinical thermographer, uses Digital Infrared Thermal Imaging, or DITI. A digitized computer image of Southard's chest resembles a colorful topographical map illustrating temperatures, not elevations. Yellows and reds are higher skin temperatures and blues and purples show cooler areas.
Warmer areas indicate chemical or blood vessel activity, Belluccio explains. Abnormal cell growth, such as a tumor, increases circulation. The tumor signals blood vessels to feed it, and the circulatory overdrive generates heat. Breast tissue typically appears cool in a thermal image, so hot spots could indicate an abnormality.
"Every person has an individual thermal fingerprint," explains Belluccio, an acupuncture physician who owns Lotus Path Wellness Center in Lutz.
She says the 15-minute, noninvasive procedure can detect changes in the breast earlier than a self-examination or mammography alone. And there is none of the radiation of a mammogram's X-rays.
"We're not saying this should be used instead of a mammogram," Belluccio says, but it complements mammography, self-exams and an annual examination by a medical professional.
The patient is placed in an area away from walls and windows and allowed to acclimate to a room temperature of about 70 degrees. Photographs of five views are taken.
Southard will return in three months for another set of pictures to create a "baseline" for future exams, much as a woman's first mammogram serves as comparison for any subsequent changes in her breasts. The images are sent electronically to a specialist for interpretation.
Cost averages about $100 to $150. A mammogram costs about $90 to $120. The thermogram, however, is not covered by health insurance.
Some women, says Southard, worry that the radiation received during a mammogram negates the benefit. Experts say the exposure is minimal.
Still, mammograms remain an imperfect science.
They find about 75 percent of cancers and find them, on average, 1.7 years before a woman or her doctor can feel a lump, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. But 60 to 80 percent of the lesions found and recommended for biopsy prove to be benign, reports the advocacy group Breast Cancer Action.
Neither a mammogram nor a thermogram can accurately differentiate between benign and malignant abnormalities in the breast.
But a mammogram is still the best bet a woman has, says Dr. Daniel Sullivan, associate director of the biomedical imaging program at the National Cancer Institute. "There is nothing that looks like it's going to replace mammography in the next five years," he says.
Thermography is one of a dozen screening methods currently under investigation in NCI-sponsored studies.
"Right now, ultrasound and MRI look the most promising," says Sullivan.
Thermography training varies considerably. Some technicians are taught by the company that manufactures the machine. Others go through a rigorous certification sponsored by the American Academy of Medical Infrared Imaging or the American Board of Clinical Thermography, as Belluccio did.
Breast cancer annually strikes about 200,000 women and kills 40,000 of them.
"There's so many things you can do to prevent the growth of abnormal tissues: diet, exercise, vitamin therapy," says Belluccio. "Even emotional factors. We need to deal with emotional issues such as anger.
"Wouldn't it be nice if we could talk about breast health awareness," she says, "instead of breast cancer awareness. Let's start with prevention."
