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Review
. 2018 Jan 29;5(2):147-161.
doi: 10.1080/23328940.2017.1397085. eCollection 2018.

The use of infrared thermography in the measurement and characterization of brown adipose tissue activation

James Law  1 , Jane Chalmers  2 , David E Morris  3 , Lindsay Robinson  1 , Helen Budge  1 , Michael E Symonds  1   2
Affiliations
Review

The use of infrared thermography in the measurement and characterization of brown adipose tissue activation

James Law et al. Temperature (Austin). .

Abstract

Interest in brown adipose tissue has increased in recent years as a potential target for novel obesity, diabetes and metabolic disease treatments. One of the significant limitations to rapid progress has been the difficulty in measuring brown adipose tissue activity, especially in humans. Infrared thermography (IRT) is being increasingly recognized as a valid and complementary method to standard imaging modalities, such as positron emission tomography-computed tomography (PET/CT). In contrast to PET/CT, it is non-invasive, cheap and quick, allowing, for the first time, the possibility of large studies of brown adipose tissue (BAT) on healthy populations and children. Variations in study protocols and analysis methods currently limit direct comparison between studies but IRT following appropriate BAT stimulation consistently shows a change in supraclavicular skin temperature and a close association with results from BAT measurements from other methods.

Keywords: PET-CT; brown adipose tissue; human; infrared thermography; rodent; thermal imaging.

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Figures

Figure 1.
Figure 1.
(a) Original thermal image (b) Thermal image after processing.
Figure 2.
Figure 2.
Representation of infrared radiation emitted by the supraclavicular region.
Figure 3.
Figure 3.
Thermal image saved by a FLIR™ camera (a) viewed with standard image-viewing software and (b) opened in FLIR™ ResearcherIR™.
Figure 4.
Figure 4.
Examples of different methods used to analyze thermal images.
Figure 5.
Figure 5.
Simulated data from a mock IRT study.
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