Thermography Applications

The famous BMW car manufacturer is known worldwide for making high quality luxury cars with all the latest technological advances included. BMW’s research campus, near the Munich headquarters, employs a wide range of engineers, computer experts, scientists and many others in order to research ways to produce BMW models in faster and more cost effective ways.

Since the eruption of Iceland’s Eyjafjallajokull volcano grounded most of UK airspace, scientists have been trying to come up with some kind of Ash cloud detection system. A standard jet engine superheats the ash particles, which turns them to glass inside the engine itself resulting in the engine stopping mid air.

Thermal imaging was once highly expensive and only used exclusively. However, things have changed considerably and now thermal imaging is much more affordable and used for a wide variety of applications. Thermal imaging manufacturers have realised that the possibilities for thermography applications is vast and are now producing cameras with different specifications for different types of thermal work.

Sometimes a regional anaesthetic is preferred for certain medical procedures as it is considered to be safer for the patient. However, in order to test the effectiveness of a local anaesthetic, a pinprick test is carried out and if the pinprick is felt, the anaesthetic is considered to be ineffective and it also means a wait time of 30 minutes after administering the anaesthetic to see its effectiveness.

Thermal imaging cameras are being used to monitor the stress levels in zoo animals and to keep those stress levels to a minimum. It has been reported that many animals are prone to emotional stress and the physical side effects of anaesthetics, and in some cases treatment does more harm than good.

Thermal Cameras help optimise low cost housing solutions. A company has been developing steel based housing solutions for Romanian families in need. The priority is that the houses are simple, safe, decent and well insulated. The company developing these steel based housing solutions is ArcelorMittal and they are the world’s leader in steel production.

At the Fiat Car factory in Italy they are using thermal imaging cameras for predictive maintenance purposes, in order to predict electrical and mechanical faults. The factory produces 250,000 cars per year, meaning that it is important for the system of car production to work efficiently without any possible faults.

Infrared cameras can detect elevated body temperature which may indicate the presence of fever. Due to factors such as, economic migration and the growth of international travel means that it is much easier for infections and disease to spread quickly. This calls for a stringent global prevention policy.

Electricity is usually taken for granted in our society. However, the electrical grid has to have regular inspections of the network’s components to ensure a continuous supply of electricity. Thermal imaging cameras are increasingly being used to see the components state of operation. E.ON Bayern, a German power and gas utility company are the main power supplier in central Europe and have started to use thermal imaging cameras as part of their preventative maintenance programme.

Flir thermal imaging cameras have been used to help determine how well anti-allergy medicine is functioning. Using a thermal imaging camera to study the skin and temperature differences is an extremely accurate, non-invasive, non-contact technique that can easily be used to visually show changes that could indicate further problems and unknown issues.