ABSTRACT

Thermography is an imaging technique that records the infrared radiation of the skin with a potential to detect asymmetries in body temperature and relating them to pathologies or risk of injury. However, the location of landmarks and region of interest (ROI) can influence the recording process. In this study we describe the reliability of a method to select the ROI without modifying the original thermogram over 68 thermograms (17 participants) of patellar tendon with an infrared camera (softwareOptris 450PI). The width-height, X-Y axis and mean temperature of the ROI was measured by two examiners.All the lower limits of the Intraclass Correlation Coeficiente (CCI) were over 0.84 without biases. The skin temperature was similar for both intra-examiner (F1,33=0.488; p=0.490) and inter-examiner (F1,33=0.011; p=0.917). The mean differences were 0.006ºC (Limit of agreement (LoA): -0.10 to 0.10), The differences between examiners were 0.001 ºC (LoA: -0.13 to 0.13). All temperature differences were <0.25ºC. The method used has very good intra and inter-examiner reliability and reproducibility and the influence on the skin temperature is negligible. It will be of interest to extend the study to ascertain the reliability using different thermal cameras and software, which could increase the strength of the method.

摘要

热成像技术是一种成像技术，可记录皮肤的红外辐射，并具有检测体温不对称并将其与病理或受伤风险相关的潜力。但是，地标的位置和感兴趣的区域（ROI）可能会影响记录过程。在这项研究中，我们描述了使用红外热像仪（软件Optris 450PI）对68个thermo骨腱的热像图（17个参与者）进行修改而无需修改原始热像图的ROI选择方法的可靠性。两位审查员测量了ROI的宽度，高度，XY轴和平均温度。类内相关系数（CCI）的所有下限均超过0.84，没有偏差。内部检查者（F1,33 = 0.488; p = 0.490）和内部检查者（F1,33 = 0.011; p = 0.917）的皮肤温度相似。平均差异为0。006ºC（协议限制（LoA）：-0.10至0.10），检查者之间的差异为0.001ºC（LoA：-0.13至0.13）。所有温差均小于0.25ºC。使用的方法具有非常好的内部和内部检查者可靠性和可重复性，并且对皮肤温度的影响可以忽略不计。扩展研究以使用不同的热像仪和软件来确定可靠性将是很有意义的，这可能会增加该方法的强度。