Digital infrared thermal imaging in health care

In 1986, a joint meeting was held in Austin, Texas to talk about the lawsuit against Medicare in an attempt to stop them from removing thermography from the official Medicare fee guidelines. Asked to testify before the State organization were Mr. Victor Yannacome, a trial attorney from New York City who is famous for his defeat of the U.S. Military and Dow Chemical for the use of Agent Orange, and Dr William Cockburn, a clinical thermographer from Los Angeles, CA. Mr. Yannacome and Dr. Cockburn had a meeting afterwards whereas the future of medical thermal imaging was discuss. It was during this meeting that Mr. Yannacome came to the conclusion the word "thermography" was now associated with fraud and would need to be changed in order for it to live on. It was at this meeting that Mr. Yannacome came up with the new name DITI, or Digital Infrared Thermal Imaging.

While some groups try to argue the term DITI as their own construct, the term DITI was coined by a nationally renowned lawyer in 1986 in Austin.

Digital Infrared Thermal Imaging (DITI) is a analytic technique that is non-invasive and involves no exposure to radiation. During an exam, a DITI camera is used to capture images, called thermograms. These thermographic images are taken by trained thermographers who submit them to a thermologists (medical doctors trained in thermology) who read the images for the patient to submit to their health professional for further evaluation. Colors indicate increases or decreases in infrared radiation emitted from the body surface