A novel tool for Non Destructive Testing using frequency analysis of IR image sequences

In this paper, a novel methodology and a software tool for advanced image processing of thermal image sequences are presented. The software implements 1-D Fourier, short-time Fourier and wavelet transforms. The tool uses temperature variation in time for each pixel in the sequence of IR images. It is dedicated to Non Destructive Testing (NDT) testing and the functional time-dependent thermal imaging, e.g. for screening in medical diagnosis. The overall methodology is based on 2-stage analysis. The first, preliminary one is to estimate the right scale/frequency and the moment in time for the final frequency analysis. It can simplify characterization of materials and detection of cracks and defects.