Fundamentos Parte 1

Each pixel�s resistance changes in response to the VOx leaflet�s
temperature, and that change generates an electrical voltage or

current signal detected by analog techniques. The resistance of
each pixel varies in a linear manner at human body temperatures.
Fast 14- or 16-bit Analog-to-Digital (A/D) converters digitize the
amplified analog signals. A Digital Signal Processor (DSP) rap-
idly calculates a radiometric temperature value for each pixel,
and generates the greyscale or false-color image. Thermal imag-
ers require an extensive calibration process in which gain and
offset values are allocated to each pixel at different black body
temperatures and stored in a digital Pixel Correction Memory.
To increase the measuring accuracy of the microbolometers, the
FPA is often stabilized at a defined chip temperature.
The DSP is essentially the thermal imager�s Central Processing
Unit or CPU. This processor corrects the signal coming from
each vanadium oxide (VOx) pixel separately. As the entire chip
package, lens, and imager are glowing in the infrared, this back-
ground temperature must be detected and subtracted out by the
DSP. When the shutter is closed to calibrate the microbolometer,
the pixels sense only the background heat within the imager;
these background temperature values for each pixel are stored
in memory. Once the shutter opens, thermal infrared emissions
from the subject alter the resistance of the VOx leaflets. These
open-shutter resistance values minus the closed-shutter values
represent the radiance from the target and are stored in corrected
radiometric memory for display or downloading.
Imager calibration is a complicated process that must be per-
formed by the device manufacturer or a certified laboratory. To
calibrate each pixel of a microbolometer, the entire system is
checked at several known temperatures. These temperature-cali-
brated values for each pixel are then stored in the Pixel Correction
Memory. The final corrected image is radiometric, meaning each
pixel value represents an actual surface temperature value. The
corrected radiometric pixel matrix is then converted into a visible
image for display.
Up to 1% of pixels may be non-functional on a microbolom-
eter chip. They are usually �corrected� by assigning them the
average value of the eight adjacent pixels, thus excluding wildly
erroneous pixel values from the final image matrix. Although
these flawed pixels are hard to detect, they usually are not clini-
cally significant. Without the merging of analog pixels with digi-
tal memory and correction, infrared imaging quality would be
quite poor, as illustrated in Figure 3.2.
The components comprising a thermal imaging system are
selected with considerable care. Within the 8- to 12-�m portion
of the infrared spectrum, thermal radiation can only be focused
with optics made of Germanium crystal, potassium bromide,
sodium chloride, zinc salts, or surface mirrors.9 These specially
coated infrared lenses represent a significant cost factor in infra-
red imagers. Germanium crystal is the most frequently used lens
material due to its hardness, chemical resistance, good polish
qualities, and high refractive index, which enables the use of thin-
ner lenses.10 Each lens assembly must be calibrated for infrared
transmission to facilitate correct thermal measurements. This
is especially critical for thermal imagers with interchangeable
lenses.
Description of an Imager Block Diagram, Figure 3.3: A warm
human subject emits infrared rays in the 10-�m wavelength band.
A coated Germanium crystal lens passes over 90% of 7- to 12-�m
infrared rays while blocking visible, ultraviolet, and near-infrared
light.11 The lens focuses the infrared emissions from the subject�s
body onto the microbolometer leaflet array. The normally open
shutter closes on command, blocking any external infrared enter-
ing through the lens to allow �zeroing� the thermal offset caused
by the imager�s internal temperature. When the shutter opens,
the microbolometer chip inside its hermetically sealed vacuum
case senses the heat image radiating from the subject, as shown in
Figure 3.4. The amplified electronic output is a timed serial string
of pixel-specific uncalibrated analog voltages that are digitized
in an A-D converter, digitally corrected to represent calibrated
temperature values, and then displayed or transmitted as a radio-
metric or non-radiometric image.

Fundamentos Parte 1

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Fundamentos Parte 1

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Each pixel�s resistance changes in response to the VOx leaflet�s

temperature, and that change generates an electrical voltage or

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