ABSTRACT

Here we propose a protocol to (i) generate skin temperature (SkT) oscillations on glabrous tissues (plantar foot) in healthy subjects under controlled clinical environment conditions; (ii) measure quantitative temperature fields with an inexpensive microbolometer (MB) infrared camera in a clinical environment; and (iii) quantify the characteristics of skin temperature (SkT) oscillations through spectral analysis. We paid particular attention to the metrology of thermal measurements, with a special bench, including four homemade black body reference areas. We propose a live calibration procedure using this setup while correcting the thermal drift. After all of these correction steps, the experimental thermal resolution (NETDexp) for the temporal variation in each pixel was about 25 mK. Finally, a movement removal procedure was also applied to the thermal images to avoid foot spatial movement over the 10-min observation period. Thermoregulation was stimulated by a 6-min walking exercise test on six volunteers and was then studied using three kinds of scalar indicators evaluated before and after exercise per thermal image pixel. We demonstrated that the 6-min walk exercise increased the thermoregulation activity beneath the plantar foot sole. Moreover, unlike manually placed local thermal probes, the indicator fields proposed in this paper allow the operator to select the exact thermoregulation activation locations and analyse the spatial distribution patterns at these locations.

摘要

在这里，我们提出了一种协议（i）在受控的临床环境条件下，在健康受试者的无毛组织（足底）上产生皮肤温度（SkT）振荡；（ii）在临床环境中使用廉价的微辐射热计（MB）红外热像仪测量定量温度场；（iii）通过光谱分析量化皮肤温度（SkT）振荡的特征。我们特别关注了热测量的计量学，并配备了一个特殊的工作台，其中包括四个自制的黑体参考区域。我们建议使用此设置进行实时校准，同时校正热漂移。经过所有这些校正步骤后，每个像素随时间变化的实验热分辨率（NETDexp）约为25 mK。最后，还对热图像应用了运动去除程序，以避免在10分钟的观察期内足部空间运动。通过对6名志愿者进行6分钟的步行运动测试来刺激体温调节，然后使用每种热图像像素运动前后评估的三种标量指标对温度调节进行研究。我们证明了6分钟的步行锻炼可增加脚底足底下的体温调节活动。此外，与手动放置的局部热探头不同，本文提出的指示器字段使操作员可以选择确切的温度​​调节激活位置并分析这些位置处的空间分布模式。