Automatic depth scanning system for 3D infrared thermography

Abstract

Infrared thermography can be used as a pre-, intra- and post-operative imaging technique during medical treatment of patients. Modern infrared thermal cameras are capable of acquiring images with a high sensitivity of 10 mK and beyond. They provide a planar image of an examined 3D object in which this high sensitivity is only reached within a plane perpendicular to the camera axis and defined by the focus of the lens. Out of focus planes are blurred and temperature values are inaccurate. A new 3D infrared thermography system is built by combining a thermal camera with a depth camera. Multiple images at varying focal planes are acquired with the infrared camera using a motorized system. The sharp regions of individual images are projected onto the 3D object’s surface obtained by the depth camera. The system evaluation showed that deviation between measured temperature values and a ground truth is reduced with our system.