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Infrared Thermography

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Multi-Modality Imaging

Abstract

Infrared thermography (also infrared imaging or thermal imaging) is a new remote, non-contact and non-invasive diagnostic and monitoring technique with increasing relevance in a wide range of medical fields. This is mainly due to the several advantages of this technology. Thermal imaging is a passive technique which detects the radiation naturally emitted from an object, in this case the human skin, and does not use any harmful radiation. Thus, infrared thermography (IRT) is suitable for prolonged and repeated use. In the last decades, new medical applications for thermal imaging have arisen. These techniques have been successfully used in the diagnosis of several pathologies, including breast cancer, rheumatic diseases, dry eye syndrome, vascular diseases, etc. Infrared thermography has also demonstrated its potential in the monitoring of several vital signs, including temperature, respiratory rate, heart rate, and blood perfusion. Recently, there has been new advance in 3D infrared imaging. A three-dimensional thermal signature may provide several advantages in the detection and monitoring of the course of several pathologies including arthritis, thyroid dysfunctions, breast cancer, sports lesions, and diabetic foot. The current chapter focuses on advances in the area of medical IRT. First, it reviews the basics of IRT and essential theoretical background. Second, some medical applications and corresponding methods are described in detail. Third, it gives an overview on the recent advances on “3D Infrared Thermography”.

Carina Barbosa Pereira, Xinchi Yu, and Stephan Dahlmanns contributed equally to this work.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    Juvenile arthritis, also known as pediatric rheumatic disease, is an umbrella term that describes autoimmune and inflammatory conditions or pediatric rheumatic diseases developed in children under the age of 16.

  2. 2.

    Osteoarthrosis is the most frequent chronic condition of the joints, affecting more than 30 million Americans. It can affect any joint, but it occurs most commonly in knees, hips, lower back and neck, small joints of the fingers, among others.

  3. 3.

    Rheumatoid arthritis is an autoimmune disease in which the body’s immune system mistakenly attacks the joints.

  4. 4.

    Gout is a form of inflammatory arthritis that affects people who have high levels of uric acid in the blood. Uric acid can form needle-like crystals in the joints. The most common symptoms are sudden and severe episodes of pain, tenderness, redness, warmth, and swelling.

  5. 5.

    The wound bed score is based on healing edges (wound edge effect), presence of eschar, greatest wound depth/granulation tissue, amount of exudate amount, edema, periwound dermatitis, periwound callus and or fibrosis, and a pink/red wound bed.

  6. 6.

    \({\mathrm{CAND}} = 1 - \frac {|{\mathrm{GT}} - {\mathrm{IRT}}|}{\mathrm{GT}}\), where GT corresponds to the HR obtained with the ground truth and IRT stands for the HR estimated with infrared thermography.

  7. 7.

    SI, a marker of shock, is the ratio of HR to systolic blood pressure. It is a effective marker for the initial assessment of sepsis.

  8. 8.

    Carrico index, also denominated PaO2/FiO2, is the ratio of arterial oxygen concentration to the fraction of inspired oxygen. In critical care medicine, this parameter describes the severity of pulmonary dysfunction.

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    Authors and Affiliations

    1. Chair for Medical Information Technology, Helmholtz-Institute for Biomedical Engineering, RWTH Aachen University, Aachen, Germany

      Carina Barbosa Pereira, Xinchi Yu, Stephan Dahlmanns, Vladimir Blazek, Steffen Leonhardt & Daniel Teichmann

    2. Czech Institute of Informatics, Robotics and Cybernetics (CIIRC), Czech Technical University in Prague, Prague, Czech Republic

      Vladimir Blazek

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    1. Graduate Program on Health Technology (PPGTS), Pontifical Catholic University of Paraná – PUCPR, Curitiba, Paraná, Brazil

      Mauren Abreu de Souza

    2. Federal University of Technology – Paraná (UTFPR), Curitiba, Paraná, Brazil

      Humberto Remigio Gamba

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      Helio Pedrini

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    Pereira, C.B., Yu, X., Dahlmanns, S., Blazek, V., Leonhardt, S., Teichmann, D. (2018). Infrared Thermography. In: Abreu de Souza, M., Remigio Gamba, H., Pedrini, H. (eds) Multi-Modality Imaging. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-98974-7_1

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