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A History of Thermology and Thermography
Published in James Stewart Campbell, M. Nathaniel Mead, Human Medical Thermography, 2023
James Stewart Campbell, M. Nathaniel Mead
The first electronic sensor for infrared imaging, developed in the early 1940s, was made from indium antimonide (InSb) and mounted at the base of a small Dewar vessel to allow cooling with liquid nitrogen. InSb is a photovoltaic substance that generates an electric current when illuminated by infrared radiation. Thermal scans using this sensor were initially taken at the Royal National Hospital for Rheumatic Diseases in Bath, England (now the United Kingdom) in 1959. The prototype scanner, known as the Pyroscan, could assess the heat from arthritic joints (Figure 1.6). By today's standards, these thermal scanners were rather crude and difficult to interpret due to low spatial resolution and the ability to display only a few values of grey.
Signs of Pressure Sores
Published in J G Webster, Prevention of Pressure Sores, 2019
Detection of the heat radiated from the body in the form of infrared radiation is accomplished by utilizing the principle of photoconductivity. A rotating mirror mechanical scanner images the object onto an indium antimonide detector cell cooled in liquid nitrogen (Siedband and Holden 1978).
History of Thermal Imaging from 1960
Published in Kurt Ammer, Francis Ring, The Thermal Human Body, 2019
In the 1960s, indium antimonide was used as a single element detector, cooled by liquid nitrogen, that was added manually to the detector flask at regular intervals. Leidenfrost transfer systems, electronic and gas cooling were developed, which reduced the need for regular topping up of nitrogen. It is now known that some of the variables encountered with the thermal imagers could well have been due to inconsistent levels of the coolant on the detector cell. While cooled detector systems still give high performance thermal imaging, uncooled cameras have now reached a high level of thermal resolution and are more convenient in clinical applications.
In vivo near-infrared fluorescent optical imaging for CNS drug discovery
Published in Expert Opinion on Drug Discovery, 2020
Maria J. Moreno, Binbing Ling, Danica B. Stanimirovic
The field is evolving fast and has already begun to address a new frontier – imaging at wavelengths beyond 1700 nm (between 1750 and 2500 nm) where tissue transparency is predicted to be further improved. Despite the presence of water overtone peaks in this region, lower light scattering, and reduced autofluorescence, together with a significant increase in image contrast reported at wavelengths (1,400–1,500 nm) affected by similiar water overtones [68], suggest that further improvements are plausible at wavelength beyond 1700 nm. For the brain, the maximum transparency is expected to be achieved at wavelengths between 1600 and 1850 nm. Imaging in this region requires new generation of indium antimonide- (InSb-) based detectors, femtosecond laser sources and novel bright emitters in this optical window [100], challenges that can only be solved through a multi-disciplinary translational R&D at the interface of physics, material sciences, and biology.