Contact thermography is a recently developed technique designed to measure the temperature of skin and the underlying tissue. The technique is noninvasive and is relatively inexpensive compared to infrared thermography systems. Contact thermography systems employ liquid crystals of cholesterol derivatives. These crystals are embedded in flexible sheets which are mounted on inflatable frames. This design enables the sheets to conform to irregularly shaped body segments. Several inflatable frames are used to measure skin temperatures, with each frame measuring a narrow range of 5-6OC. The liquid '