Israeli Technology to Track Terrorists Can Help Doctors

Israeli thermal imaging technology designed to track terrorists and defend borders can be used in a very different way — it is expected to help doctors get a clearer view of what is happening in patients’ bodies.

Sheba Medical Center has signed an agreement with a defence company Opgal to repurpose thermal imaging technologies that were previously reserved for military purposes.

Thermal technology, which until now has helped pilots take off and land, and soldiers on the battlefield identify threats and targets, has the potential to help medical teams worldwide to see the invisible and make more accurate diagnoses,

Tsachi Israel, CEO of Opgal, said.

The new arrangement may help make the technology as commonplace as stethoscopes, according to Dr. Boris Orkin, director of Sheba’s Surgical Innovations Center.

Thermal cameras can become as widespread as stethoscopes, and there could well be devices in the pockets of every doctor,

said Orkin.

Used in a medical setting, this technology can help doctors and surgeons accurately identify the movement of blood vessels and presenting a clear picture of carbon dioxide being emitted by exhalation.