Laboratory Products
Infrared Cameras: Advanced Temperature Measurement for Today’s Breakthrough Medical Research
Chris Bainter, FLIR Systems
Once thought too expensive - and perhaps too exotic - for use in medical research, infrared (IR) cameras are now emerging as an essential solution for providing safe and accurate temperature measurement. This shift is taking place not only in the medical research fi eld but across industries, with independent research projecting the use of IR cameras will grow strongly as the technology continues to improve and costs continue to decline. Simply put, medical researchers are turning to IR cameras because they like the way they work and the results they deliver, producing reliable data in a way earlier temperature measurement tools could not.
IR cameras pose many advantages over legacy temperature measurement instruments, such as thermocouples, resistance temperature detectors, thermistors, and spot pyrometers. The technology can deliver millions of points of non-contact temperature measurement at the push of a button; accurately characterise thermal transients over time (ideal for experiments marked by rapid temperature spikes); and work in the smallest of spaces on the smallest of targets.
Collectively, these attributes are making IR cameras an indispensable tool for discovery in a wide range of cutting-edge research fi elds from the conception and design of tests and experiments through their successful execution. The following is a closer look at how IR cameras are being deployed and the positive contribution they are making in three emerging medical-research fi elds: brown fat studies, mosquito repellent research, and next-generation dental drill testing.
Brown Fat Studies
Brown fat is a key store of fat that allows mammals to hibernate and serves as a rapid source of energy in human babies. Scientists have linked brown fat to non-shivering thermogenesis: a phenomenon best known for keeping babies warm.
While it was once believed to disappear by adulthood, researchers now understand that some adults do maintain small amounts of brown fat. They hope this fat store can offer new ways to combat obesity, diabetes, and menopausal hot fl ashes.
Because the stores of brown fat in adults are small, fi nding and measuring it poses a challenge for researchers. Many have turned to expensive options, such as combined PET-CT scans. But others have found a lower-cost, safer, and more fl exible solution in IR cameras.
One such researcher is Dr Daniel E. Brown, Professor of Anthropology at University of Hawaii Hilo. With a PhD in biological anthropology, Brown’s has undertaken recent research including surveys of women at mid-life to examine ethnic differences in symptoms associated with menopause, as well as research on risk factors for type 2 diabetes in schoolchildren.
In a new pilot study of 20 menopausal women, Brown and his team are using IR cameras to measure changes in skin temperature - as a function of brown fat activity - after exposure to mildly cold water. The women in the study have all experienced hot fl ashes to varying degrees, from minor discomfort to severe heat, sweating, and rapid heartbeat. For this research, they’re asked to immerse one hand in a bucket of water for fi ve minutes, causing brown adipose tissue to metabolise. An IR camera, trained on an area of skin above the collarbone that’s a target-rich area for monitoring brown fat function, takes ‘before and after’ thermal pictures of the region to measure temperature change just below the skin surface.
“Even a ‘fumbler’ like me could get the IR camera and software to work,” said Brown. “The IR camera system is an elegant solution to a challenging measurement problem: it gets the accurate temperature measurement we need without the burden of physically connecting devices to the subject.”
While the results have been promising, Brown stresses these are early days of this important inquiry. If they fi nd meaningful differences in how brown fat metabolises in women who suffer hot fl ashes, a larger comparative study could be in order. Brown said there’s no doubt in his mind that IR cameras and the imaging software that supports them will be an essential part of future studies.
“If we scale this experiment to include many more women, the IR camera and software would play a key role in facilitating our data gathering and analysis,” said Brown. “As a researcher, that’s what I’m looking for in an enabling technology.”
Organic Mosquito Repellent Research
Mosquito-borne illnesses, including malaria, dengue fever and Zika, are a pervasive and vexing problem affecting millions of people each year. Notably, by the end of August 2016, the World Health Organization reported evidence of Zika transmission in 72 countries. Amidst global efforts to control outbreaks of Zika and other mosquito- borne viruses, new initiatives are underway to develop natural mosquito repellents that can grow easily in affected regions.
While DEET, or N,N-Diethyl-meta-toluamide, is a proven mosquito repellent, it is a harsh chemical that is harmful if swallowed, and both the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and Environmental Protection Agency recommend against spraying it directly onto the face. It is also hard to obtain in regions where it is needed most, namely where mosquito-borne viruses are most prevalent.
With the push on to develop naturally grown mosquito repellents, catnip has emerged as a potential game changer. Although catnip shares a problem with other natural repellents - its mosquito-repelling qualities wear off too quickly - researchers at Rutgers University have developed a new ‘super-catnip’, called CR9, in an attempt to enhance the bioactive compounds that repel mosquitos and make the plant easier to grow commercially.
Dr James Simon and PhD graduate student William Reichert, developers of CR9, are working to verify that the essential oils in their super-catnip are effective at repelling
Figure 1:
A.aegypti on an untreated heat source.
INTERNATIONAL LABMATE - FEBRUARY 2020
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76 |
Page 77 |
Page 78 |
Page 79 |
Page 80 |
Page 81 |
Page 82 |
Page 83 |
Page 84 |
Page 85 |
Page 86 |
Page 87 |
Page 88
