scholarly journals Infrared Thermal Imaging as a Novel Non-Invasive Point-Of-Care Tool to Assess Filarial Lymphoedema

2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (11) ◽  
pp. 2301
Author(s):  
Louise A. Kelly-Hope ◽  
Mohammad Jahirul Karim ◽  
ASM Sultan Sultan Mahmood ◽  
Abdullah Al Al Kawsar ◽  
Abul Khair ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Thermal Imaging ◽  
Health Workers ◽  
Point Of Care ◽  
Objective Assessment ◽  
Assessment Tools ◽  
Term Care ◽  
Infrared Thermal Imaging ◽  
Non Invasive ◽  
Progression Of Disease ◽  
History Of

Lymphatic filariasis causes disfiguring and disabling lymphoedema, which is commonly and frequently exacerbated by acute dermatolymphangioadenitis (ADLA). Affected people require long-term care and monitoring but health workers lack objective assessment tools. We examine the use of an infrared thermal imaging camera as a novel non-invasive point-of-care tool for filarial lower-limb lymphoedema in 153 affected adults from a highly endemic area of Bangladesh. Temperature differences by lymphoedema stage (mild, moderate, severe) and ADLA history were visualised and quantified using descriptive statistics and regression models. Temperatures were found to increase by severity and captured subclinical differences between no lymphoedema and mild lymphoedema, and differences between moderate and severe stages. Toes and ankle temperatures detected significant differences between all stages other than between mild and moderate stages. Significantly higher temperatures, best captured by heel and calf measures, were found in participants with a history of ADLA, compared to participants who never had ADLA, regardless of the lymphoedema stage. This novel tool has great potential to be used by health workers to detect subclinical cases, predict progression of disease and ADLA status, and monitor pathological tissue changes and stage severity following enhanced care packages or other interventions in people affected by lymphoedema.

scholarly journals Developing non‐invasive, objective assessment tools for social apathy in neurocognitive disorders: The role of action kinematics

2020 ◽  
Vol 16 (S6) ◽  
Author(s):  
Valeria Manera ◽  
Guenda Gualperti ◽  
Erika Rovini ◽  
Radia Zeghari ◽  
Gianmaria Mancioppi ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Objective Assessment ◽  
Neurocognitive Disorders ◽  
Assessment Tools ◽  
Non Invasive

scholarly journals Medical infrared thermal imaging of syringomyelia in the Cavalier King Charles Spaniel

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael Larkin ◽  
Catherine Loughin ◽  
Dominic Marino ◽  
Curtis Dewey ◽  
Scott Umbaugh ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Thermal Imaging ◽  
Imaging Modality ◽  
Infrared Camera ◽  
Heat Emission ◽  
Infrared Thermal Imaging ◽  
Feature Sets ◽  
Non Invasive ◽  
Thermographic Image ◽  
Localized Disease ◽  
Color Map

Abstract Background Medical infrared thermal imaging (MITI) is a non-invasive imaging modality gaining popularity in the veterinary field. An infrared camera captures emission of heat and creates a color map in the form of a thermogram. Topical heat emission is influenced by localized disease processes as a result of autonomic nervous system imbalance. The purpose of this study was to determine the utility of using thermography to identify changes in thermographic patterns associated with syringomyelia (SM) presence or absence in Cavalier King Charles Spaniels (CKCS) with Chiari-like Malformation (CLM).Results In CKCS with CLM, MITI was most accurate at a texture distance of 6. Optimizing imaging feature sets produced a highest accuracy of 69.9% (95% CI: 59.5-79.0%), with 81.3% sensitivity and 57.8% specificity for identifying the presence of syringomyelia.Conclusion Thermographic image analysis is a successful non-invasive, diagnostic test that can be used to screen for syringomyelia presence in a CKCS with CLM.

scholarly journals Building toolkits for COPD exacerbations: lessons from the past and present

Thorax ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 74 (9) ◽  
pp. 898-905 ◽  
Author(s):  
Elizabeth Sapey ◽  
Mona Bafadhel ◽  
Charlotte E Bolton ◽  
Thomas Wilkinson ◽  
John R Hurst ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Point Of Care ◽  
Chronic Obstructive ◽  
Obstructive Pulmonary Disease ◽  
Copd Exacerbations ◽  
Non Invasive ◽  
Non Invasive Ventilation ◽  
History Of ◽  
Additional Therapy ◽  
Acute Event

In the nineteenth century, it was recognised that acute attacks of chronic bronchitis were harmful. 140 years later, it is clearer than ever that exacerbations of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (ECOPD) are important events. They are associated with significant mortality, morbidity, a reduced quality of life and an increasing reliance on social care. ECOPD are common and are increasing in prevalence. Exacerbations beget exacerbations, with up to a quarter of in-patient episodes ending with readmission to hospital within 30 days. The healthcare costs are immense. Yet despite this, the tools available to diagnose and treat ECOPD are essentially unchanged, with the last new intervention (non-invasive ventilation) introduced over 25 years ago.An ECOPD is ‘an acute worsening of respiratory symptoms that results in additional therapy’. This symptom and healthcare utility-based definition does not describe pathology and is unable to differentiate from other causes of an acute deterioration in breathlessness with or without a cough and sputum. There is limited understanding of the host immune response during an acute event and no reliable and readily available means to identify aetiology or direct treatment at the point of care (POC). Corticosteroids, short acting bronchodilators with or without antibiotics have been the mainstay of treatment for over 30 years. This is in stark contrast to many other acute presentations of chronic illness, where specific biomarkers and mechanistic understanding has revolutionised care pathways. So why has progress been so slow in ECOPD? This review examines the history of diagnosing and treating ECOPD. It suggests that to move forward, there needs to be an acceptance that not all exacerbations are alike (just as not all COPD is alike) and that clinical presentation alone cannot identify aetiology or stratify treatment.

scholarly journals The physical and physiological effects of vacuum massage on the different skin layers: a current status of the literature

2016 ◽  
Vol 4 ◽  
pp. 1-12 ◽  
Author(s):  
Peter Moortgat ◽  
Mieke Anthonissen ◽  
Jill Meirte ◽  
Ulrike Van Daele ◽  
Koen Maertens
Keyword(s):  
Objective Assessment ◽  
Assessment Tools ◽  
Current Status ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Physiological Effects ◽  
Qualitative Synthesis ◽  
Non Invasive ◽  
Skin Fold ◽  
Tissue Hardness ◽  
Physical Effects

Abstract Vacuum massage is a non-invasive mechanical massage technique performed with a mechanical device that lifts the skin by means of suction, creates a skin fold and mobilises that skin fold. In the late 1970s, this therapy was introduced to treat traumatic or burn scars. Although vacuum massage was invented to treat burns and scars, one can find very little literature on the effects of this intervention. Therefore, the aim of this review is to present an overview of the available literature on the physical and physiological effects of vacuum massage on epidermal and dermal skin structures in order to find the underlying working mechanisms that could benefit the healing of burns and scars. The discussion contains translational analysis of the results and provides recommendations for future research on the topic. An extended search for publications was performed using PubMed, Web of Science and Google Scholar. Two authors independently identified and checked each study against the inclusion criteria. Nineteen articles were included in the qualitative synthesis. The two most reported physical effects of vacuum massage were improvement of the tissue hardness and the elasticity of the skin. Besides physical effects, a variety of physiological effects are reported in literature, for example, an increased number of fibroblasts and collagen fibres accompanied by an alteration of fibroblast phenotype and collagen orientation. Little information was found on the decrease of pain and itch due to vacuum massage. Although vacuum massage initially had been developed for the treatment of burn scars, this literature review found little evidence for the efficacy of this treatment. Variations in duration, amplitude or frequency of the treatment have a substantial influence on collagen restructuring and reorientation, thus implying possible beneficial influences on the healing potential by mechanotransduction pathways. Vacuum massage may release the mechanical tension associated with scar retraction and thus induce apoptosis of myofibroblasts. Suggestions for future research include upscaling the study design, investigating the molecular pathways and dose dependency, comparing effects in different stages of repair, including evolutive parameters and the use of more objective assessment tools.

scholarly journals Biomedical Applications of Infrared Thermal Imaging: Current State of Machine Learning Classification

Proceedings ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 27 (1) ◽  
pp. 46 ◽  
Author(s):  
Vardasca ◽  
Magalhaes ◽  
Mendes
Keyword(s):  
Machine Learning ◽  
Thermal Imaging ◽  
Biomedical Applications ◽  
Skin Surface ◽  
Peripheral Blood Flow ◽  
Imaging Method ◽  
Infrared Thermal Imaging ◽  
Machine Learning Classification ◽  
Non Invasive ◽  
Current State

Infrared thermal (IRT) imaging is a modality that allows non-invasive and non-ionizing monitoring of skin surface temperature distribution, providing underlining physiological information on peripheral blood flow, autonomic nervous system, vasoconstriction/vasodilatation, inflammation, transpiration or other processes that can contribute to skin temperature. This imaging method has been used in biomedical applications since 1956 and has proved its usefulness for vascular, neurological and musculoskeletal pathological situations. This research aims to identify and appraise the recent biomedical applications which had used intelligent analysis methods such as machine learning processes to classify and perform decision making towards improving the existing medical care, a literature review is presented and their operation in the biomedical applications of infrared thermal imaging.

scholarly journals Medical infrared thermal imaging of syringomyelia in the Cavalier King Charles Spaniel

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael Larkin ◽  
Catherine Loughin ◽  
Dominic Marino ◽  
Curtis Dewey ◽  
Scott Umbaugh ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Thermal Imaging ◽  
Imaging Modality ◽  
Infrared Camera ◽  
Heat Emission ◽  
Infrared Thermal Imaging ◽  
Feature Sets ◽  
Non Invasive ◽  
Thermographic Image ◽  
Localized Disease ◽  
Color Map

Abstract Background Medical infrared thermal imaging (MITI) is a non-invasive imaging modality gaining popularity in the veterinary field. An infrared camera captures emission of heat and creates a color map in the form of a thermogram. Topical heat emission is influenced by localized disease processes as a result of autonomic nervous system imbalance. The purpose of this study was to determine the utility of using thermography to identify changes in thermographic patterns associated with syringomyelia (SM) presence or absence in Cavalier King Charles Spaniels (CKCS) with Chiari-like Malformation (CLM). Results In CKCS with CLM, MITI was most accurate at a texture distance of 6. Optimizing imaging feature sets produced a highest accuracy of 69.9% (95% CI: 59.5-79.0%), with 81.3% sensitivity and 57.8% specificity for identifying the presence of syringomyelia. Conclusion Thermographic image analysis is a successful non-invasive, diagnostic test that can be used to screen for syringomyelia presence in a CKCS with CLM.

scholarly journals Comparison of Infrared Thermal Imaging with Two Canine Pain Assessment Tools in Dogs Undergoing Treatment for Chronic Back Pain

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Emily Freeman ◽  
Jennifer F. Johnson ◽  
John C. Godbold, Jr ◽  
Ronald J. Riegel
Keyword(s):  
Back Pain ◽  
Clinical Response ◽  
Chronic Back Pain ◽  
Objective Assessment ◽  
Brief Pain Inventory ◽  
Objective Evaluation ◽  
Intervertebral Disk ◽  
Assessment Tools ◽  
Response To Treatment ◽  
Infrared Thermal Imaging

Historically, the evaluation and assessment of the clinical response to treatment for canine back pain is subjective and relies on owner and clinician assessment of pain. Sequential infrared thermal images (IRTIs) objectively measure the patient’s physiological response after a prescribed series of photobiomodulation therapy (PBMT) treatments. Qualifying participants had histories of pain and dysfunction associated with spinal osteoarthritis or intervertebral disk disease, or of non-specific uni- or bilateral back pain along the paravertebral epaxial muscles. Each patient was initially IRT imaged prior to PBMT treatment and then received multiple PBMT treatments delivered to the appropriate spinal area on days 1, 2, 3, and 4. Participants were reimaged on day 7. IRT images provided an objective assessment of the physiologic status of each patient after the PBMT regimen. The thermal changes in IRT images correlated with statistically significant changes in Colorado State University Canine Chronic Pain Scale scoring (CSU-CCPS) and owner assessment using the Canine Brief Pain Inventory (CBPI), which includes a Pain Severity Score (CBPI-PS) and Pain Interference Score (CBPI-PI). This proof-of-concept study demonstrates that IRTI provides an objective evaluation of response to PBMT treatment and correlates with observed and measured clinical response.

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