The Science of Contact Regulation Thermography

Overview

Regulation Thermography is based on the physiology of heat in humans. When there are disease processes in the human body, the body's organs respond differently to cooling stimuli on the skin’s surface. These responses may be detected by measuring the skin’s temperature with a very accurate thermal sensor. Certain temperature patterns may be indicative of underlying irregular body functioning, which a healthcare practitioner may then decide to investigate further.

What is the CRT 2000® Thermographic System?

The CRT 2000® Thermographic System is a non-invasive, radiation-free, reproducible thermographic tool which measures how the body responds to stress (cold stimulus). These minute, detectable changes in circulation patterns and thermal characteristics of the major organs produce data that can be used for adjunctive diagnosis of certain indications such as: abnormalities of the female breast, peripheral vascular disease, musculoskeletal disorders, extracranial cerebral and facial vascular disease, abnormalities of the thyroid gland, and various neoplastic and inflammatory conditions.

Physiological Explanation

1. Breast Cancer

At a breast tumor’s early stage, it can obtain the necessary nutrients to survive from surrounding blood vessels. When the tumor reaches a certain size, the tumor needs to grow its own blood vessel supply to sustain further growth or to metastasize. The tumor blood vessels are primitive, without the normal connections to the body’s autonomic nervous system.

When the breast is exposed to a cooling stimulus, normal vessels connected to the autonomic nervous system will tend to constrict, to encourage blood flow to the head. A breast tumor blood vessels will tend not to constrict, and therefore, remain filled with warm blood that releases heat to the surface of surrounding skin. The CRT sensor can detect “hot spots” on the breast’s skin surface, which may be indicative of an underlying tumor. The health practitioner may then decide to investigate further by ordering diagnostic breast cancer tests.

2.  Organ diseases

During early human embryonic development, some of our organs originate from similar cellular regions as specific areas on our skin. Because of this shared origin, the organ and its associated skin area are connected by nerves in the autonomic nervous system.

When skin is exposed to a cooling stimulus, a part of the autonomic nervous system known as the sympathetic nervous system will cause certain blood vessels to constrict or dilate in order to ensure that blood is moved to important areas of the body. In skin regions that are connected to organs, the response of the skin’s underlying blood vessels of the sympathetic nervous system is augmented by the degree of regulatory health that particular organ possesses. This phenomenon is known as the visceral cutaneous reflex.

The CRT sensor can detect changes of temperature on the skin’s surface. This data can be compared to previous data from that patient or comparative data from other patients to provide information to the healthcare practitioner, which may be indicative of irregular organ functioning. The health practitioner may then decide to investigate further and develop an individualized treatment plan.