Infrared thermometers, line scanners and thermal imagers will see a combined annual growth rate of 10.5 percent worldwide over the next five years, according to a new market research study.

The report from Flow Research of Wakefield, Mass., and Ducker Worldwide of Bloomfield Hills, Mich., says the market for IR products is $504 million, with thermal imagers holding the largest portion of the total.

The largest growth is expected in cameras for firefighting, which firefighters use to see through smoke. The report predicts that this market will grow at an average annual rate of 23 percent in North America through 2005.