When it comes to thermography screening, you cannot take any chances. Even when you have followed the preparation steps before the procedure, you need to know about the processes involved in the actual screening. As breast thermography is a non-invasive procedure, it does not cause the same apprehensions associated with other invasive procedures. From the time you enter the clinic to the time the procedure is administered, you need to look at a lot of things to get it done.
Here are some of the details about the thermography procedure you should know before you attend the session:
Initial steps
Before the actual process starts, there is a time when medical professionals follow some initial steps to administer the test. They begin by asking you to fill a health history form. This form includes some of the basic information such as your condition, symptoms and any other medical concerns. Once the form is filled, the experts will conduct a visual inspection of the surface of the breasts. This is done to observe any issues and compare them with infrared images.
Capturing of breast images
Once the initial steps are completed, you will be seated in a room where the actual thermography will be performed. When your body reaches the required temperature, you will be seated in front of the infrared imaging camera where the images of the breast will be captured. During the administration of the process, you need to lift your arms and give a posture that gives an accurate posture. This helps the medical practitioner to perform vascular analysis and other details.
Assessment of the infrared images
After the images are captured, a team of medical practitioners assesses the infrared images that are captured. At this stage, you have two options: first, you wait for the written report of the thermography screening, and second, you consult a professional to know about that. In case you wish to know the results of the test immediately after the test is conducted, you should seek consultation from a professional even though you may need to pay them an additional fee.
Categorization of results
In the final step of the Thermography process, the results are categorized based on normality. There are five different thermo-biological (TH) categories in the thermography screening process. These include Normal uniform non-vascular, normal uniform vascular, equivocal, abnormal and severely abnormal. From the equivocal, a medical professional can indicate that the results of the scans are questionable and need to be examined. If your report shows a report in equivocal categories and others, you need to seek immediate medical intervention.
