Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Observational Study
. 2024 Mar 7;24(6):1723.
doi: 10.3390/s24061723.

Thermography Sensor to Assess Motor and Sensitive Neuromuscular Sequels of Brain Damage

Alessio Cabizosu  1 , Daniele Grotto  1 , Alberto López López  2 , Raúl Castañeda Vozmediano  3
Affiliations
Observational Study

Thermography Sensor to Assess Motor and Sensitive Neuromuscular Sequels of Brain Damage

Alessio Cabizosu et al. Sensors (Basel). .

Abstract

Introduction: The aim of this study was to observe the validity, diagnostic capacity, and reliability of the thermographic technique in the analysis of sensitive and motor sequelae in patients with chronic brain damage.

Method: A longitudinal descriptive observational study was performed. Forty-five people with impairment in at least one anatomical region participated in and completed this study. All patients who had become infected by SARS-CoV-2 in the past year were excluded. Thermographic measurement was conducted, and the Modified Ashworth Scale and Pressure Pain Threshold was analyzed.

Results: A high correlation between two times of thermography data was observed. The Spearman correlations obtained between the Ashworth score on each leg and the temperature given by thermography were all significant.

Discussion and conclusions: Despite the above, the Spearman correlations obtained between the PPT in each leg and the temperature offered by thermography were not significant in any of the measurements. For this reason, thermography is a potential tool for the diagnosis and assessment of neuromuscular motor sequelae, but not for sensitive sequelae, after brain injury. Nevertheless, for the time being, no statistical relationship has been observed between the data reported by thermography and PPT; thus, future studies are needed to further investigate these results.

Keywords: brain damage; neuromuscular diseases; stroke; thermography.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Thermographic images of a patients with muscular spasticity. (A) Skin surface image of patient with right hemiparesis. (B) Skin surface image of patient with left hemiparesis.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Correlation between temperature differences between legs at different times. 1ª ΔT RL-LL = temperature difference between the legs in the first measurement; 2ª ΔT RL-LL = temperature difference between the legs in the second measurement.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Relationship between temperature and Ashworth scale.
Figure 4
Figure 4
Relationship between temperature and algometry.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

Similar articles

See all similar articles

Cited by

References

    1. Ring E.F.J., Ammer K. Infrared Thermal Imaging in Medicine. Physiol. Meas. 2012;33:R33–R46. doi: 10.1088/0967-3334/33/3/R33. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Wu T., Luo Y., Wei L. Mid-Infrared Sensing of Molecular Vibrational Modes with Tunable Graphene Plasmons. Opt. Lett. 2017;42:2066–2069. doi: 10.1364/OL.42.002066. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Ring E.F. Quantitative Thermal Imaging. Clin. Phys. Physiol. Meas. 1990;11:87–95. doi: 10.1088/0143-0815/11/4A/310. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Amson H., Vacheron C.-H., Thiolliere F., Piriou V., Magnin M., Allaouchiche B. Core-to-Skin Temperature Gradient Measured by Thermography Predicts Day-8 Mortality in Septic Shock: A Prospective Observational Study. J. Crit. Care. 2020;60:294–299. doi: 10.1016/j.jcrc.2020.08.022. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Magalhaes C., Vardasca R., Mendes J. Recent Use of Medical Infrared Thermography in Skin Neoplasms. Skin Res. Technol. 2018;24:587–591. doi: 10.1111/srt.12469. - DOI - PubMed

Publication types

LinkOut - more resources