Thermal imaging and modelling of burned skin

Proper evaluation of the surface and the depth of a burn wound, especially in the case of a severe burn, enables an appropriate choice of treatment to be made. This choice decides subsequently about the success of the entire medical treatment. Clinical assessment is currently the most frequently applied method in burn depth evaluation. Unfortunately the use of this method results in a high number of false diagnoses. Numerous other methods have therefore been introduced but none has been fully accepted by clinicians treating burns. The aim of this paper is to discuss properties of normal and burned skin from the point of view of active dynamic thermal imaging (ADT) applications in burn depth diagnostics. In the following paragraph we discuss physiology of normal and burned skin in terms of possible reaction on thermal phenomena, both – heating and cooling. In the experimental part reactions of normal and burn tissues to the cold stress are shown.