Thermal Imaging Could be a Simple, Highly Accurate Way to Track Vital Signs
Postdoctoral scholar Dingding Han adjusts a thermal camera capturing an image of Ph.D. student Corey Zheng. Using an advanced processing technique on the raw thermal image, Han, Zheng, and their collaborators can accurately measure body temperature, heart rate, and respiration rate. Their noncontact technology could open new possibilities for vital sign monitoring and early disease detection. (Photo: Candler Hobbs)
Biomedical engineers at Georgia Tech have developed a system for collecting and processing thermal images that allows for reliable, detailed measurement of vital signs such as respiration and heart rate or body temperature.
Their monitoring approach is passive and requires no contact. The system could one day lead to early detection for cancer or other diseases by flagging subtle changes in body tissues.
The researchers have overcome the spectral ambiguity inherent in conventional thermal imaging, sharpening the texture and detail they can extract from images and removing the effects of heat from the environment surrounding a subject. They published details of their work March 19 in the journal Cell Reports Physical Science.