METHOD, DEVICE AND SYSTEM FOR THERMOGRAPHY
First Claim
1. A method of calculating a thermal path in a living body, comprising:
- obtaining a synthesized thermospatial image defined over a three-dimensional spatial representation of the living body and having thermal data associated with a surface of said three-dimensional spatial representation;
identifying at least one thermally distinguishable area in said thermospatial image; and
using said thermospatial image and said thermally distinguishable area for calculating the thermal path.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A method of determining an internal three-dimensional thermally distinguishable region in the living body is disclosed. The method comprises obtaining a synthesized thermospatial image defined over a three-dimensional spatial representation of the living body and having thermal data arranged gridwise over a surface of the three-dimensional spatial representation in a plurality of picture-elements each represented by a intensity value over the grid. The method further comprises searching over the grid for at least one set of picture-elements represented by generally similar intensity values. For at least a few sets of picture-elements, the method defines a plurality of loci, each locus being associated with at least a pair of picture-elements of the set and defined such that each point of the locus is at equal thermal distances from individual picture-elements of the pair. The plurality of loci is used for determining the internal three-dimensional thermally distinguishable region.
39 Citations
84 Claims
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1. A method of calculating a thermal path in a living body, comprising:
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obtaining a synthesized thermospatial image defined over a three-dimensional spatial representation of the living body and having thermal data associated with a surface of said three-dimensional spatial representation; identifying at least one thermally distinguishable area in said thermospatial image; and using said thermospatial image and said thermally distinguishable area for calculating the thermal path. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 6, 12, 14, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 29)
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4. Apparatus for calculating a thermal path in a living body, comprising:
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an input unit for receiving a synthesized thermospatial image defined over a three-dimensional spatial representation of the living body and having thermal data associated with a surface of said three-dimensional spatial representation; a area identification unit, for identifying at least one thermally distinguishable area in said synthesized thermospatial image; and a calculator for calculating the thermal path in the living body based on said thermospatial image and said thermally distinguishable area. - View Dependent Claims (5, 13)
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7. A method of determining an internal three-dimensional thermally distinguishable region in the living body, the method comprising:
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obtaining a synthesized thermospatial image defined over a three-dimensional spatial representation of the living body and having thermal data arranged over a surface of said three-dimensional spatial representation in a plurality of picture-elements each represented by a intensity value or a grey-level; searching for at least one set of picture-elements represented by generally similar intensity values or grey-levels; and for at least one of said at least one set of picture-elements, defining a plurality of loci, each locus being associated with at least a pair of picture-elements of said set and defined such that each point of said locus is at equal thermal distances from individual picture-elements of said pair, and using said plurality of loci for determining the internal three-dimensional thermally distinguishable region. - View Dependent Claims (9, 11)
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8. Apparatus for determining an internal three-dimensional thermally distinguishable region in the living body, the apparatus comprising:
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an input unit for receiving a synthesized thermospatial image defined over a three-dimensional spatial representation of the living body and having thermal data arranged over a surface of said three-dimensional spatial representation in a plurality of picture-elements each represented by a intensity value or a grey-level; a searching unit for searching for at least one set of picture-element represented by generally similar intensity values or grey-levels; a locus definition unit for defining a plurality of loci, each locus being associated with at least a pair of picture-elements of said set and defined such that each point of said locus is at equal thermal distances from individual picture-elements of said pair; and a region determination unit for determining the internal three-dimensional thermally distinguishable region based on said plurality of loci.
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10. (canceled)
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15. A method of determining a number of thermally distinguishable objects in the living body, the method comprising:
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obtaining a synthesized thermospatial image defined over a three-dimensional spatial representation of the living body and having thermal data associated with a surface of said three-dimensional spatial representation, said thermal data being characterized by closed isothermal contours surrounding at least one thermally distinguished areas on said surface; determining an internal three-dimensional thermally distinguishable region in the living body based on said synthesized thermospatial image; analyzing said three-dimensional spatial representation so as to define a boundary within said three-dimensional spatial representation, wherein points residing on one side of said boundary correspond to a single thermally distinguished area on said surface while points residing on another side of said boundary correspond to a plurality of thermally distinguished areas on said surface; and comparing said internal three-dimensional thermally distinguishable region with said boundary so as to determine the number of thermally distinguishable objects in the living body. - View Dependent Claims (16, 17)
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18. Apparatus for determining a number of thermally distinguishable objects in the living body, the apparatus comprising:
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an input unit for receiving a synthesized thermospatial image defined over a three-dimensional spatial representation of the living body and having thermal data associated with a surface of said three-dimensional spatial representation, said thermal data being characterized by closed isothermal contours surrounding at least one thermally distinguished areas on said surface; a region determination unit for determining an internal three-dimensional thermally distinguishable region in the living body based on said synthesized thermospatial image; an analyzer for analyzing said three-dimensional spatial representation so as to define a boundary within said three-dimensional spatial representation, wherein points residing on one side of said boundary correspond to a single thermally distinguished area on said surface while points residing on another side of said boundary correspond to a plurality of thermally distinguished areas on said surface; and a comparison unit for comparing said internal three-dimensional thermally distinguishable region with said boundary so as to determine the number of thermally distinguishable objects in the living body.
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19-20. -20. (canceled)
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28. (canceled)
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30-80. -80. (canceled)
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81. A method of calculating a thermal path in a body, comprising:
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(a) associating thermal data with a surface of at least a portion of the body to thereby generate a thermal data map on said surface; (b) identifying in said thermal data map at least one thermally distinguishable region; and (c) calculating the thermal path in said at least a portion of the body based on a surface distribution of said at least one thermally distinguishable region. - View Dependent Claims (82, 83, 84)
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Specification