The Multiple Applications of Infrared Cameras
Flir infrared cameras have come down in price recently, and have therefor become much more popular for many different people. In the past, a relatively basic infrared camera cost tens of thousands of dollars, was gas-cooled, and required sophisticated and expensive software to interpret the images.
At this point in time, a basic flir camera can be purchased for only $2000 – $3000, and will come with software. It’s not too surprising then that infrared cameras have become so popular for many different people and uses.
With rising energy costs, and increased interest and concern for the environment and energy efficiency, one of the most popular uses for thermal imaging cameras is in conducting home energy efficiency audits. Now, almost all home energy auditors use infrared cameras.
Since IR is the energy of heat emitted from an object, these cameras can be used to see how heat moves through the walls of a house. An infrared cameras allows an auditor to see cold air entering the house, holes in the insulation, and other such construction defects.
Another popular application of an IR camera is in detecting faults in electrical systems, since electrical systems often experience degradation in components over time, or loose connections, which increase resistance to electrical current. The camera can see the heat produced by the increased resistance. Thermography can find bad electrical components that could result in a major failure and potential fire. For this reason, insurance companies often require regular infrared audits of electrical systems, or offer a large discount on premiums for doing so.
Infrared cameras are even becoming more and more popular in human medicine, particularly in early breast cancer detection.Breast cancer detection is another area of human medicine where infrared has made significant progress. Before breast cancer develops to the extent a tumor can be detected with a mammogram, small changes and increased blood flow can be detected in the infrared. Infrared is also completely passive. One of these cameras also costs significantly less than most other equipment that might be used to detect breast cancer.
This entry was posted on Tuesday, September 28th, 2010 at 3:34 am and is filed under General. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.