Breast Thermal Imaging continues to be researched and studied over a period of 45+ years to date. Below you will find refernces to a variety of clinical studies.

• Breast IR Imaging Clinical Publications, a summary

Recent thermal imaging publications (1998 to 2010):

• The accuracy of digital infrared imaging for breast cancer detection in women undergoing breast biopsy (Ref: European Journal of Surgical Oncology, Volume 36, Issue 6, June 2010)
• High Sensitivity and Specificity of Digital Infrared Imaging for Breast Cancer Detection in Younger Women Undergoing Breast Biopsy, UK 2009. (Ref: 2009 San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium, Poster# 5025)
• A Prospective Study of Computerized Digital Infrared Image Analysis in Biopsy Proven Breast Cancers, India 2009. (Ref: 2009 San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium, Poster# 5028, )
• Effectiveness of a noninvasive digital infrared thermal imaging system in the detection of breast cancer, USA 2008 (Ref: The American Journal of Surgery (2008) 196, 523–526)
• Use of IR imaging in enhanced breast cancer detection and monitoring of the clinical response to treatment, USA 2003 (Ref: 25a Annual International Conference of the IEEE Engineering in Medicine & Biology Society. IEEE EMBS 1129-1132. ISBN: 0-7803-7790-7)
• Feasibility study of early breast cancer detection using infrared imaging (Ref: Ashish Gupta, Ph.D. Candidate, School of Mechanical Engineering, Purdue University. Acknowledgements Prof. Jay. P. Gore, Prof. Lisa X. Xu; Purdue Research Foundation, Indiana 21st Century R&D Funds, Mid Infrared Sensing Diagnostics and Control Consortium)
• Breast cancer: new technologies for risk assessment and diagnosis, USA 2003 (Ref: Wright T, McGechan A., Adis International Inc., Yardley, Pennsylvania 19067, Mol Diagn. 2003;7(1):49-55)
• IR’s ability to distinguish between benign and malignant lesions, USA 2003 (Ref: Parisky, Y. R., Sardi, A., Hamm, R., Hughes, K., Esserman, L., Rust, S., & Callahan, K. (2003). Efficacy of computerized infrared imaging analysis to evaluate mammographically suspicious lesions. American Journal of Roentgenology, 180, 263-269)
• Develop a single diagnostic parameter that distinguishes benign from malignant breast lesions, 2001 (Ref: Anbar, M., Milescu, L., Naumov, A., Brown, C., Button, T., Carty, C., & Al Dulaimi, K. (2001). Detection of cancerous breasts by dynamic area telethermometry. IEEE Engineering in Medicine & Biology Magazine, 20, 80-91)
• The important role of infrared imaging in breast cancer - New technology improves applications in risk assessment, detection, diagnosis, and prognosis, 2000 (Ref: Head, J. F. Wang, F. Lipari, C. A., & Elliott, R. L. (2000). IEEE EMBC Magazine, 19, 52-57)
• Combined efficacy of IR with Mammogram and CBE, Canada 1998 (Ref: Keyserlingk, J. R., Ahlgren, P. D., Yu, E., & Belliveau, N. Infrared imaging of the breast: Initial reappraisal using high- resolution digital technology in 100 successive cases of stage I and II breast cancer. Breast Journal, 4, 245-251)

The following are a few pioneering studies in the field of breast thermography (1960 to 1990):

• Observer variation in mammary thermography: Results of a teaching file test carried out in four different centers, 1990 (Ref: Italian Research Council, Special project, Dr. Giorgio Mustacchi, Centro Oncologico, Via Pieta 19, 34100 Trieste, Italy)
• Abnormal Thermogram - Significance in Breast Cancer, 1987 (Ref: RIR; 12, Oct 1987 pp 337 - 343)
• Gautherie and associates screened over 600 women over a period of 10 years. 3.9% of the Control Group (w/ family history and normal thermogram) patients were diagnosed with breast cancer, contrasted with 35.8% of the Study Group 1 (w/ family history and abnormal thermogram) and 27.2% of the Study Group 2 (w/o family history and abnormal thermogram). (Ref: Gautherie, M.,Thermobiological assessment of benign and malignant breast diseases.Am. J. Obstet. Gynecol., 147, 861, 1983. Louis, K., Walter, J. and Gautherie, M., Long-term assessment of breast cancer risk by thermal imaging, in Biomedical Thermology, Alan R. Liss Inc., pp. 279–301, 1982)
• Breast Thermography after Four Years and 10,000 Studies, 1972. Isard and Associates of Albert Einstein Medical Center, Philadelphia screened over 10,000 women both symptomatic (56%) and asymptomatic (44%). For the first time a study showed the clinical efficacy of Thermography (T), Mammography (M) and Clinical Breast Exam (E), independently and combined. The M+T accuracy was 92% in the symptomatic group and 89% in the asymptomatic group. (Ref: Breast Thermography after Four Years and 10,000 Studies, By HAROLD J. ISARD, M.D.,W BECKER, M.D., R. SHILO, M.D., and B. J. OSTRUM, M., Division of Radiology, Albert Einstein Medical Center, Presented at the Seventy-second Annual Meeting of the American Roentgen Ray Society, 1971)
• In 1970s, Spitalier and associates screened 61,000 women using thermography over a 10-year period. The false-negative and positive rate was found to be 11% (89% sensitivity and specificity). Thermography also detected 91% of the non-palpable cancers (T0 rating). The authors noted that of all the patients with cancer, thermography alone was the first alarm in 60% of the cases. (Ref: Spitalier, H., Giraud, D., et al., Does infrared thermography truly have a role in present-day breast cancer management? Biomedical Thermology, Alan R. Liss, New York, NY, 269-278, 1982)
• In 1965, Gershon-Cohen et al, a radiologist and researcher from the Albert Einstein Medical Center, introduced infrared imaging to the United States. Using a Barnes thermograph, he reported on 4000 cases with a sensitivity of 94% and a false-positive rate of 6%. This data was included in a review of the then current status of infrared imaging published in 1968 in CA - A Cancer Journal for Clinicians. (Ref: Gershen-Cohen, J., Haberman, J. and Brueschke, E., Medical thermography: A summary of current status. Radiol. Clin. North Am., 3, 403, 1965. Haberman, J., The present status of mammary thermography. CA: A Cancer Journal for Clinicians, 18, 314,1968)