A trip to a tourist attraction in Scotland turned out to be a life-changing moment for one woman after a thermal camera detected she had breast cancer.
Bal Gill, 41, was visiting the Camera Obscura & World of Illusions with her family in May when she noticed a red heat patch radiating from her left breast. She said:
“While making our way through the floors we got to the thermal imaging camera room. As all families do, we entered and started to wave our arms and look at the images created. While doing this, I noticed a [red] heat patch coming from my left breast.”
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Initially, she thought nothing of it, but then she realized she was the only person with a heat patch, saying:
“Having looked at everyone else they didn’t have the same. I took a picture and we carried on and enjoyed the rest of the museum.”
Gill searched thermal images online and discovered that the cameras in the amusement park were also used by oncologists to help diagnose cancers. She said:
“I saw a lot of articles about breast cancer and thermal imaging cameras.”
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She later visited her doctor and was diagnosed with breast cancer. She wrote a letter to the tourist attraction, thanking them, and saying:
“It turns out I do have breast cancer, thankfully really early stages. I have now had two surgeries and have one to go to prevent it from spreading. I just wanted to say thank you – without that camera I would never have known. I know it’s not the intention of the camera but for me it really was a life-changing visit.”
Andrew Johnson, the tourist site’s general manager, said staff was not aware that the cameras could prove so important. He said:
“We did not realise that our thermal camera had the potential to detect life-changing symptoms in this way,” he said. “We were really moved when Bal contacted us to share her story.”
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Of course, the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) warns against using thermal cameras as a standalone diagnostic tool, stating in their February 2019 guidance:
“Thermography is not a substitute for regular mammograms and should not be used in place of mammography for breast cancer screening or diagnosis.”
