In an amazing twist of fate, a woman discovered she had breast cancer after she stood in front of a heat camera at a museum and noticed a glowing red patch around one of her breasts.
41-year-old Bal Gill, from Slough in Berkshire, was on holiday in Edinburgh with her family in May this year when she visited the Camera Obscura and World of Illusions museum. One of the exhibitions contained a thermal imaging camera room, but when Bal stood in front of the heat-detecting camera she noticed something unusual.
There was "a red heat patch coming from her left breast," the museum explained on their Instagram page. In a letter, Bal explained, "We thought it was odd and 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."
When she returned home a few days later, Bal remembered the unusual thermal image and looked into it. Discovering that some oncologists use thermal imaging cameras to detect cancer in the early stages, she decided to make an appointment with her doctor to check it out. Unbelievably, Bal was diagnosed with breast cancer.
Thank you - without that camera I would never have known," she wrote in her letter. "I know it's not the intention of the camera but for me it really was a life-changing visit. I cannot tell you enough about how my visit to the Camera Obscura changed my life."
Bal has so far undergone a mastectomy, and needs one final surgery in November to be cancer-free. Doctors have said she will not need chemotherapy or radiotherapy afterwards, because her cancer was caught at an early stage.
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The museum's general manager, Andrew Johnson, said: "It's amazing that Bal noticed the difference in the image and, crucially, acted on it promptly.
"We wish her all the best with her recovery and hope to meet her and her family in the future."
How does a heat camera detect breast cancer?
Thermal imaging - also known as a thermography - uses infra-red technology to detect heat changes inside the breast tissue which could indicate the beginnings of an abnormality.
Thermography isn’t what a doctor might call a ‘diagnostic tool’, in that it can't tell you on its own whether you have cancer. What it can do, however, is identify patches of heat that aren’t mirrored in the other breast, as well as highlighting any asymmetrical blood vessel patterns which may indicate a heavier blood supply potentially feeding a growing tumour. These unusual patterns of heat can then be assessed to discover whether there is anything cancerous inside the breasts.
Good job she went to that museum, eh?
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Cat is Cosmopolitan UK's features editor covering women's issues, health and current affairs. news, features and health. The route to her heart is a simple combination of pasta and cheese (somewhat ironic considering the whole health writing thing), and she finds it difficult to commit to TV series so currently has about 14 different ones on the go.
