Authors:
Janneke Lukkezena, Teba Alnimab, Nils Hendrixa, Cees J. Tackb, Bram van Ginnekena, Matthieu Ruttena,c
a Department of Imaging, Radboud University Medical Center, Nijmegen, the Netherlands b Department of Internal Medicine, Radboud University Medical Center, Nijmegen, The Netherlands c Department of Research & Innovation, Jeroen Bosch Academy, Jeroen Bosch Hospital, ‘s-Hertogenbosch, The Netherlands
Corresponding author: janneke.lukkezen@radboudumc.nl
Background
Diabetic foot ulcers are a serious complication in people with diabetes. Infrared thermography (IRT) has emerged as a promising noninvasive tool for monitoring diabetic foot problems, but its clinical application is hampered by the lack of standardized measurement protocols. Therefore, the aim of this pilot study was to determine the repeatability of an IRT measurement protocol capable of capturing the plantar, dorsal, medial, and lateral sides of the foot, and to evaluate the impact of camera bias, image distance, camera angle and body heat shielding on foot temperature in healthy individuals.
Methods
The effect of measurement distance was investigated using a thermal reference. Foot temperature measurements were performed in 20 healthy participants using an infrared camera. Measurements were repeated three times per view to assess the repeatability. The effect of body heat shielding and measurement angle on foot temperature was evaluated at multiple anatomical landmarks.
Results
No correlation was found between measurement distance and measured temperature (20 cm distance variation). IRT measurements (over 24 min interval) generally demonstrated good repeatability across all views, with median intraclass correlation coefficients (ICC) for the dorsal, medial, lateral, and plantar views of 0.97, 0.92, 0.96 and 0.96, respectively. Between the first and last measurement there was a significant drop in temperature (0.9℃). High ICC scores were found when the measurement angle and body heat shielding were varied (ICC>0.99).
Conclusion
This study introduces a robust multi-view infrared measurement setup using a new IRT device that shows good repeatability in healthy participants, and is largely independent of measurement distance, measurement angle, and body heat noise.