11/17/95

By Sam Hendrix, 334/844-3698

AU INFRARED PHOTOGRAPHY PROJECT TO FOCUS ON DIABETES

AUBURN -- In his two decades of using an infrared camera to locate the hot spots of illness or injury, Ram Purohit of Auburn UniversityÕs College of Veterinary Medicine has seen his share of ailing animals. He's also used the device on people referred to his laboratory for carpal tunnel syndrome, foot aches and other problems.

Now, Purohit and a colleague in AU's College of Education are gearing up for a research project to see if they can make a difference for some of the nation's 14 million diabetics.

Purohit, a professor of large animal surgery and medicine in AU's Large Animal Clinic, and David Pascoe, an associate professor of health and human performance, are planning a project to determine if an exercise program will increase blood flow in diabetics.

"We are just getting started, but we plan to do thermography -- the infrared photography that measures local skin surface temperature -- on diabetics before and after they exercise," Purohit said. "We will be trying to figure out to what extent diabetes causes a blood flow problem and if certain exercise programs -- for example, walking or bicycling -- might help alleviate some of that problem."

Purohit and Pascoe worked together three years ago when Alexander City- based Russell Corp. needed skin temperature information to select the fabric of the next generation of athletic wear. Their work in lab testing of skin temperature also helped in the design and manufacture of the latest carbon fiber firefighter suits.

Purohit has also provided infrared photography to assist area physicians in identifying the problems caused by people dropping weights onto their feet, slipping on factory floors or suffering other injuries.

"Using infrared, we can diagnose any of several problems, but in the human body, it's usually those problems that can't be diagnosed by X-ray," Purohit says.

"Nerve damage is a prime example, with blood flow restricted to a specific part of the body. There might not be a bruise or a visible cut, but the surface temperature will indicate the presence or lack of blood circulation. The place where the injury or illness occurs is not necessarily the place where the body reveals it."

The advantage of thermography is that it's non-invasive and that it detects only the temperature being emitted by the skin.

"With thermography, you're not exposing the subject to X-rays or other potentially harmful substances," Pascoe says.

Infrared is standard in human medicine, particularly in the detection of breast cancer and for neuromuscular, orthopedic and vascular disorders. For years, infrared photography has been used in industry and in military applications, such as in the design of smart bombs and surveillance equipment.

"Infrared has become more popular in industry, and in some respects, we've done as much work with it on humans as on animals," says Purohit, who has gained an international reputation and published more than 45 scientific papers on his work.

One area of human medicine that can benefit from this technique, say both Purohit and Pascoe, is carpal tunnel syndrome, an ailment common among workers in offices and factories. Carpal tunnel syndrome is a hand disorder characterized by pain, weakness and numbness in the thumb and fingers and caused by an inflamed ligament pressing on a nerve in the wrist. Both AU scientists say thermography after surgery can determine whether circulation has returned adequately, and they presented results of their work in this area at an international conference in England last year.

"Two weeks after carpal tunnel surgery, a patient will typically still have the symptoms because of inflammation from the surgery and from the presence of scar tissue," Pascoe said. "Circulation is not totally back at that time. But by six weeks, 80 to 90 percent of patients have regained adequate circulation, and we can detect this through infrared photography. Physicians are beginning to see thermography as a valuable post-surgery technique in dealing with the return of blood flow."

Despite its non-invasive nature and its accurate and immediate results, thermography remains somewhat rare in veterinary medicine, Purohit says, primarily because of the costs involved.

Advances in technology continue to provide new and better equipment, but Purohit still uses only his second camera in 20 years. The first, provided by the U.S. Government, took Polaroid snapshots of the subject. His current camera digitizes the photos and allows storage on floppy disk, but Purohit says he hopes to acquire a more advanced camera within the next few months.

"Technology is advancing so fast. We will soon see a 3-D camera and a high- speed thermal camera, and these sell for between $25,000 and $150,000 each, depending on what comes with them. But you just can't request a new camera every year."

Auburn may be an exception in this area of medicine. Purohit started thermography in veterinary medicine at Auburn in 1975, and today the area has six thermography machines: three in veterinary medicine, one in engineering, one in education and one in a local physicianÕs office.

nov95:AU-infrared >p>CONTACT: Purohit, 334/844-4490; Pascoe, 334/844-1473.