A 3D Scan Model and Thermal Image Data Fusion Algorithms for 3D Thermography in Medicine

Abstract

Objectives At present, medical thermal imaging is still considered a mere qualitative tool enabling us to distinguish between but lacking the ability to quantify the physiological and nonphysiological states of the body. Such a capability would, however, facilitate solving the problem of medical quantification, whose presence currently manifests itself within the entire healthcare system. Methods A generally applicable method to enhance captured 3D spatial data carrying temperature-related information is presented; in this context, all equations required for other data fusions are derived. The method can be utilized for high-density point clouds or detailed meshes at a high resolution but is conveniently usable in large objects with sparse points. Results The benefits of the approach are experimentally demonstrated on 3D thermal scans of injured subjects. We obtained diagnostic information inaccessible via traditional methods. Conclusion Using a 3D model and thermal image data fusion allows the quantification of inflammation, facilitating more precise injury and illness diagnostics or monitoring. The technique offers a wide application potential in medicine and multiple technological domains, including electrical and mechanical engineering.

An Anatomical Thermal 3D Model in Preclinical Research: Combining CT and Thermal Images

“…Unlike similar approaches that have also generated thermal 3D models [ 5 , 7 , 16 , 18 ], it was possible to replace the third modality—a 3D scanner. Therefore, the anatomical thermal 3D models employed in this research were obtained from the complete set of CT image slices.…”

“…This resulted in the thermal images first being superposed with the 3D CT shell and then using a transformation of the reference system to register the thermal 3D shell with the anatomical data. With the additional information of internal conditions based on the CT data, this research goes one step further than the approaches of Chromy and Klima [ 5 ] and Grubišiü and Boš [ 7 ].…”

“…Due to the improvements of thermal cameras in recent years in terms of resolution, size, and price, the research interest in thermal imaging grew [ 5 ]. This modality enables the measurement and detection of a scene’s temperature distribution [ 6 ].…”

“…To quantify inflammation and to improve diagnostics and monitoring, a thermal 3D scan model for human medicine was introduced by Chromy and Klima [ 5 ], calculating a 3D view of the acquired 2D thermal images and a 3D scan of an injured toe. Similar approaches were followed by Grubišiü and Boš [ 7 ] and van Doremalen [ 16 ] for diabetic foot disease, presenting the development of a system combining an active scanning system and a thermal camera.…”

Three-dimensional Thermal Imaging in Medicine

“…Since ray tracing examination of point visibility is computationally demanding issue, the algorithm uses Octree data structure [15], which divide the area of 3D model into spatial cubes, in which the parts of mesh are classified into. This entire texture mapping process is more deeply described in [16].…”