A clinical photographer at Queen Elizabeth Hospital Birmingham (QEHB) is helping to pioneer the use of a new thermal camera to improve patient care for burns patients.

Andrew Riddle saw the potential medical benefit of the equipment after reading an article in his local weekly newspaper about a veterinary surgery using the camera to detect "pain hotspots" in animals.

He is now hoping to use the hand-held device, the Flir SC 660, to aid surgeons and clinicians with preliminary burns assessment.

Andrew has just returned from Australia where he delivered a talk on medical thermography to the Australian Institute of Medical Biological Illustrators in Coolangatta, near Brisbane.

The talk, based on a study comparing the new thermal camera with the existing laser doppler imager, earned him a “highly commended” award from his peers, who attended the conference from across Australia and New Zealand.

Andrew, 45, who was awarded a scholarship to go to Australia, part funded by the Institute of Medical Illustration and the Journal of Visual Communication, said: “I saw an article in my local newspaper about the use of thermography in veterinarian services. It was about a veterinary tool that shows pain hotspots in animals.

“A thermal camera detects heat signatures on a body or object that emits heat above and below a certain temperature value. I decided to look at ways of applying this specialist thermal camera and software for the treatment of burns patients.”

The medical use of the new thermal camera has previously been in studying skin temperature as a diagnostic tool for various situations, such as breast cancer screening, arthritis, vascular disorders and soft tissue injuries.

Andrew added: “We are hoping this system is going to be a much quicker and less invasive method of assessing burn injury which, in turn, improves patient care.

"The Flir SC 660 system is a point and shoot camera that takes about three seconds to take a thermogram image. Traditional methods currently in use take far longer.

“Before we photograph the burns site we take the patient’s core and peripheral temperatures using a contra-lateral approach.

“For example, if the peripheral temperature of the patient is 35 degrees centigrade and the burn area is 33 degrees centigrade, we know there is a two degree difference, indicating a possible reduction in blood flow.”

Andrew said his team recently borrowed one of the thermal cameras to carry out a trial on 20 burns patients, with reasonable results.

“The audience in Australia was very receptive to what I told them and there was a great deal of interest. I was really pleased to get this award.”