On December 5, Nippon Avionics (President: Masato Takeuchi) announced Japan's first portable medical thermography system, "F50ME." It comprises a tablet device and a small, lightweight, hand-held camera head. The system is compatible with load testing. Designed to meet the needs of medical professionals, the F50ME system can be used in any location and for patients in any posture. The product is expected to contribute to reducing the burden on patients and users and improving operational efficiency in practical settings. The suggested retail price is 2.5 million yen (excluding tax).
Medical thermography is a medical device for real-time visualization of temperature distribution on the body surface and is used in medical settings for understanding the extent of inflammation and other purposes. Until now, however, medical thermography systems have been large in size and expensive.
The "F50ME" system developed by the company is portable and battery-powered, being suitable for use in a wide range of settings, including examination rooms, hospital rooms, house calls, and in-home medical care. The small camera is connected to a tablet device via a cable and can be carried by hand and used to shoot images from any angle, regardless of the patient's posture. It can also be used as a stationary camera in combination with an optional stand.
The tablet device has a touch panel for easy setup and can be used for managing patient data and preparing diagnostic reports. Moreover, the tablet device is equipped with functions helpful to show the examination images while explaining the diagnosis to the patient at the point-of-care, such as a function to zoom in on the affected area on the screen and a function to compare previous images.
This product has been developed as a medical device and approved as a controlled medical device (Class II) by the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare. Therefore, the product is characterized by a fail-safe design and has a self-check function to ensure normal operation upon power-on. The product has also passed electromagnetic compatibility tests to confirm that malfunctions due to electromagnetic interference from and to other devices are minimized. The company is currently applying for insurance coverage.
The measurement temperature range is 0℃-50℃, temperature resolution is ≤0.06℃ and measurement distance range is 40-270 cm. The spatial resolution is 2.8 mrad. The display resolution is 240 (H) × 240 (V) pixels. External dimensions are 32 × 42 × 133 mm for the camera head and 197 × 272 × 19.5 mm for the tablet device (controller). The camera head and tablet device weigh approximately 110 gm and 1.2 kg, respectively.
This article has been translated by JST with permission from The Science News Ltd. (https://sci-news.co.jp/). Unauthorized reproduction of the article and photographs is prohibited.