The historical development of temperature measurement in medicine

The association between temperature and disease is almost as old as medicine itself. After Galileo introduced the thermoscope thermometry evolved slowly and only became established in medicine by the work of Carl Wunderlich in the 19th Century. Thermal imaging began in the beginning of the 19th cent...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Infrared physics & technology 2007, Vol.49 (3), p.297-301
Main Author: Ring, E.F.J.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Exact sciences and technology
Instruments, apparatus, components and techniques common to several branches of physics and astronomy
Physics
Thermal instruments, apparatus and techniques
Thermometry
Citations: Items that this one cites
Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:The association between temperature and disease is almost as old as medicine itself. After Galileo introduced the thermoscope thermometry evolved slowly and only became established in medicine by the work of Carl Wunderlich in the 19th Century. Thermal imaging began in the beginning of the 19th century with William and John Herschel, but was not developed commercially until World War 2. Today modern infrared imaging systems offer high resolution images of human body temperature, and can be used to quantify sensitive changes in skin temperature in relation to certain diseases, and their response to medication. Computing has dramatically improved the power of thermal imaging, and reliable imaging procedures have been established for medical use of this technique.
ISSN:1350-4495
1879-0275
DOI:10.1016/j.infrared.2006.06.029