This review is an enlarged version of a report presented at the meeting of the Presidium of the Russian Academy of Sciences on 13 December 2005.
The focal plane array infrared technique (thermovision) is a rapid, noncontact, painless, and harmless diagnostic tool for many diseases. In this paper, the use of remote IR radiation detection to obtain infrared human images and perform spatio-temporal measurements of temperature distribution is reviewed in terms of its historical development. Mechanisms of heat production in the human body, methods to control it, and the effects of environment are briefly discussed. Biomedical applications of matrix thermovision are reviewed.