Eleven members of the American Chiropractic College of Infrared Imaging (ACCII) recently attended the annual conference of the American Academy of Thermology (AAT). This marks the first time chiropractors have been invited to participate in the conference, which brings together medical imaging specialists from around the world for meetings, research presentations and discussion on the standards and appropriate use of infrared imaging. The academy invited ACCII members to the event, held April 16-18, 2004 at Auburn University, Alabama, after noting the organization's continuing contributions to the legitimate use of infrared imaging.
"This is an historic occasion," commented ACCII President Robert Ensley, DC, CACBII. "This medical organization has never before felt the need to invite interprofessional participation, and our chiropractic ACCII members are delighted by this opportunity. We believe that we will benefit from this association by obtaining access to and association with a wide variety of infrared imaging specialists from all over the world. We also believe that we will contribute to the body of knowledge by now having a wider forum for sharing our own expertise in infrared imaging, particularly as it relates to the musculoskeletal system."
The ACCII is a subdivision of the Council on Diagnostic Imaging of the American Chiropractic Association. (ACA), established by the ACA House of Delegates in 1987 to recommend criteria for certification, ethics and professional competency; to promote, assist and publish research in infrared imaging by members; and to advance the specialty of infrared imaging in the chiropractic profession.
ACCII Secretary-Treasurer Susan L. Vlasuk, DC, DACBR, CACBII, enthused: "We are very pleased - and the ACA should be proud - that the rather stringent system set up by the ACA House of Delegates, as well as the necessity to follow ACA Bylaws provisions, has resulted in an organization that obviously has drawn interprofessional respect."
Joining Drs. Ensley and Vlasuk at the 2004 AAT conference were Drs. Thomas Brozovich, Dean Clark, Timothy Conwell, Howard Ewert, Constance Haber, Craig Mueller, John Popowich, Paul Roger, and Kenneth Thomas, all certified by the American Chiropractic Board of Infrared Imaging (CACBII). As if their first-time attendance at this event wasn't groundbreaking enough, the AAT's Board of Directors also voted to grant full membership to board-certified ACCII members and to place two ACCII members on its board.
According to Dr. Vlasuk, infrared imaging has the advantage of providing physiological information that may be of assistance to, or used instead of, the autonomic information provided by other imaging tests. It is of particular value in the assessment of suspected autonomic disorders, such as complex regional pain syndromes, and in the specific analysis of the autonomic reactions that accompany most spinal pain syndromes, chronic myofascial pain syndromes, and small-caliber peripheral neuropathies. Because high-resolution infrared imaging lends itself to strict control and reproducibility, it is the only method considered acceptable by the ACCII, the AAT, the American Academy of Medical Infrared Imaging and the International College of Thermology.
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