METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR MEASURING PHYSIOLOGY BY MEANS OF INFRARED DETECTOR

摘要

An infrared camera provides a series of infrared images frames of a part of the human body. A preferred camera is equipped with a focal plane array of GaAs quantum-well infrared photodetectors (QWIP). The infrared images are transmitted to a processor which processes each image into a multiplicity of small sub-areas. In each sub-area, temperature variation is measured over time and the temperature variation in the sub-area is represented as a temperature code. The temperature codes are then displayed as colors in each sub-area in a display of the infrared image. An observer is thereby able to monitor and analyze the physiology of the body. In a preferred embodiment, physiological changes of the brain are observed as different parts of the brain function.