Prep the Patient

Part of the success of your scan collection comes from an informed and prepared patient. Follow these guidelines:

• Provide your patient with a backless exam gown.
• Allow the patient to acclimate before the exam for at least 3 minutes. Be sure to expose the entire area that you plan to scan.
• Be sure to expose S1 by rolling down the top of underwear. The neck should be exposed with hair tied back. Tip: Provide a disposable hair elastic or hair clip if needed.
• Ensure that:
  • The patient did NOT exercise within 45 minutes of scan.
  • The patient is seated upright on a stool facing away from the examiner.
  • The patient sits still and maintains good posture during exam.
• Be familiar with spinal landmarks: S1, L1, T1, C2, C1L and R (fossa).

Prepping Children:

Thermographic scanning is an excellent functional examination for infants and children. Infants may be held by a parent or laid prone on a pillow or parent’s stomach. So long as the spinal region is not touched and can be exposed to allow scanning, an accurate thermal image can be captured. It is best to consider a segmental scan on the smallest patients. As the children grow to 3+ years old, consider a rolling thermal scan.

• Release the set screws and move the sensors close to the midline, tighten the screws.
• Skip the L1 and T1 trigger pulls when using rolling scan.
• Measure C1R and L in the fossa region. Focus the interpretation on the line graph to observe pattern.
• Use the Thermal Balance Graph (NCM) to observe the upper cervical ANS balance.
• The DTG in the Combined Graph can be skewed if the diaper is not lowered to allow acclimation of S1 to room temperature for at least 3 minutes prior to exam.

Patient checklists are available through INSiGHT Media and are recommended! Click here for more information.