Adjustable thermal scanning system and method
First Claim
1. A thermal scanning system adapted to scan skin temperature on opposite sides of a patient'"'"'s spinal column for patients of different sizes, the thermal scanning system comprising:
- a handheld body;
a plurality of temperature sensors including a first sensor, a second sensor and a third sensor, the sensors mounted on the body and arranged in a pattern, the first and second sensors being spaced to scan skin temperature on opposite sides of a patient'"'"'s spinal column of a first size range, the second and third sensors being spaced to scan skin temperature on opposite sides of a patient'"'"'s spinal column of a second size range, the first and third sensors being spaced to scan skin temperature on opposite sides of a patient'"'"'s spinal column of a third size range.
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Abstract
A thermal scanning system and method. The thermal scanning system comprises a handheld thermal scanning device with wheels and three infrared sensors that are spaced to scan skin temperature on opposite sides of patient spinal columns of different sizes. Two out of the three sensors are selected for a particular patient, and the wheels are adjustable to accommodate the two selected sensors. The handheld device further calculates the distance traveled by the wheels by measuring the rotation of the wheels. The device has a trigger that allows a user to annotate the location of various anatomical landmarks, such as particular regions of a patient'"'"'s spinal column. The device is adapted to take discrete temperature readings or rolling temperature readings. The thermal scanning system provides graphical displays and data analysis of the temperature readings from the sensors.
33 Citations
28 Claims
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1. A thermal scanning system adapted to scan skin temperature on opposite sides of a patient'"'"'s spinal column for patients of different sizes, the thermal scanning system comprising:
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a handheld body;
a plurality of temperature sensors including a first sensor, a second sensor and a third sensor, the sensors mounted on the body and arranged in a pattern, the first and second sensors being spaced to scan skin temperature on opposite sides of a patient'"'"'s spinal column of a first size range, the second and third sensors being spaced to scan skin temperature on opposite sides of a patient'"'"'s spinal column of a second size range, the first and third sensors being spaced to scan skin temperature on opposite sides of a patient'"'"'s spinal column of a third size range. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 15, 17, 18, 19, 20)
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14. A thermal scanning system adapted to scan skin temperature on opposite sides of a patient'"'"'s spinal column as a user advances a handheld scanning device along the patient'"'"'s spinal column, the thermal scanning system comprising:
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a handheld body;
at plurality of temperature sensors mounted on the handheld body;
means for aligning one sensor an equal distance apart on each side of a patient'"'"'s spine, said aligning means being adjustable to accommodate the size of the patient so that for larger patients, thermal readings can be obtained from paraspinal locations that are a greater distance apart for larger patients than for smaller patients, so as to permit a single handheld body to be used with a variety of patients.
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16. A thermal scanning system adapted to scan skin temperature on opposite sides of a patient'"'"'s spinal column as a user advances a handheld scanning device along the patient'"'"'s spinal column, the thermal scanning system comprising:
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a handheld body;
a plurality of temperature sensors mounted on the handheld body;
a detector which senses the distance traveled by the handheld body along the patient'"'"'s spinal column;
a switch activated by the user to mark one or more anatomical locations along the patient'"'"'s spinal column as the user scans the patient'"'"'s spine;
a memory which stores data representing the distance traveled by the handheld body along the patient'"'"'s spinal column, the locations marked by the user, and the temperature readings.
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21. A method of scanning skin temperature on opposite sides of a patient'"'"'s spinal column for patients of different sizes, the method comprising:
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providing a thermal scanner device having more than three thermal sensors;
selecting two of the thermal sensors, the sensors being arranged in a pattern;
placing the two sensors on opposite sides of a patient'"'"'s spinal column; and
scanning a skin temperature with the two sensors on opposite sides of the patient'"'"'s spinal column. - View Dependent Claims (22, 23, 25, 27, 28)
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24. A method of scanning skin temperature on opposite sides of a patient'"'"'s spinal column, the method comprising:
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advancing a handheld temperature scanning device along the patient'"'"'s spinal column;
scanning a left portion of the patient'"'"'s spinal column with a first temperature sensor and simultaneously scanning a right portion of the patient'"'"'s spinal column with a second temperature sensor so as to generate a plurality of temperature readings;
correlating the location on the spine with the temperature readings, separately for each region of the spine; and
displaying a graphical representation of the spine in combination with graphical representations of the temperature readings, wherein the temperature readings displayed are those which have been correlated to particular locations along the spine.
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26. A method of scanning skin temperature on opposite sides of a patient'"'"'s spinal column, the method comprising:
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providing a thermal scanner device having a plurality of thermal sensors;
positioning the scanner device so that at least one thermal sensor is positioned on each side of a patient'"'"'s spinal column;
advancing the thermal scanner device along the patient'"'"'s spinal column;
continuously recording the temperature readings from the thermal sensors as the device is advanced; and
recording a discrete temperature reading from at least one location on the patient, while maintaining the scanner device stationary.
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Specification