Infrared thermography (IRT) for the assessment of microvascular skin blood flow in a specialist connective tissue disease unit
type: CreativeWork
description: Aim. To establish standardised infrared thermography (IRT) within a specialist connective tissue disease unit, assessing its utility: • for the evaluation of Raynaud’s Phenomenon (RP) in clinical rheumatology and research • for the detection of active localised scleroderma (LS) lesions in paediatric patients and to develop improvements in IRT quality assurance for these medical applications. Methods. For the evaluation of RP, a protocol for cold challenge of the feet was developed and validated. IRT was applied with hand cold challenge for the assessment of response to oral vasodilator therapies in two large randomised pilot studies. An infrared thermometer technique was developed, validated against IRT, and subsequently used for the assessment of peripheral vasospasm in a twin study into the heritability of RP. The utility of inspection of thermograms for detecting clinically active LS lesions was established. A protocol was developed incorporating photography, IRT and laser Doppler flowmetry (LDF) for LS assessment, and the normal range of temperature and LD blood flow across several body sites was established in adults and children. The utility of the protocol for assessing LS activity in children was investigated. To develop quality assurance of thermography, the author contributed to the specification and validation of blackbody medical temperature reference sources, and published guidelines for procuring and commissioning a medical thermal imager. Results. Healthy controls had a higher mean toe temperature than RP patients (at baseline 29.2 ± 1.5ºC v 24.8 ± 1.5ºC [mean ± SD], p<0.01; t-test). IRT demonstrated improved finger rewarming 10 minutes after cold challenge in primary RP patients 11 treated with fluoxetine compared with those treated with nifedipine (58.8% v 43.1%, p=0.03; t-test). IRT showed no such improvement in finger rewarming over nifedipine in patients treated with losartan. In a hospital setting, an infrared thermometer technique performed sim…
abstract: Aim. To establish standardised infrared thermography (IRT) within a specialist connective tissue disease unit, assessing its utility: • for the evaluation of Raynaud’s Phenomenon (RP) in clinical rheumatology and research • for the detection of active localised scleroderma (LS) lesions in paediatric patients and to develop improvements in IRT quality assurance for these medical applications. Methods. For the evaluation of RP, a protocol for cold challenge of the feet was developed and validated. IRT was applied with hand cold challenge for the assessment of response to oral vasodilator therapies in two large randomised pilot studies. An infrared thermometer technique was developed, validated against IRT, and subsequently used for the assessment of peripheral vasospasm in a twin study into the heritability of RP. The utility of inspection of thermograms for detecting clinically active LS lesions was established. A protocol was developed incorporating photography, IRT and laser Doppler flowmetry (LDF) for LS assessment, and the normal range of temperature and LD blood flow across several body sites was established in adults and children. The utility of the protocol for assessing LS activity in children was investigated. To develop quality assurance of thermography, the author contributed to the specification and validation of blackbody medical temperature reference sources, and published guidelines for procuring and commissioning a medical thermal imager. Results. Healthy controls had a higher mean toe temperature than RP patients (at baseline 29.2 ± 1.5ºC v 24.8 ± 1.5ºC [mean ± SD], p<0.01; t-test). IRT demonstrated improved finger rewarming 10 minutes after cold challenge in primary RP patients 11 treated with fluoxetine compared with those treated with nifedipine (58.8% v 43.1%, p=0.03; t-test). IRT showed no such improvement in finger rewarming over nifedipine in patients treated with losartan. In a hospital setting, an infrared thermometer technique performed sim…
author: Howell, Kevin
language: eng
keywords: Thermography, Infrared imaging, Scleroderma (Disease)
date published: 2009-10
date modified: 2026-07-24T04:38:39Z
provider: University of South Wales
publisher: Networked Digital Library of Theses and Dissertations
type: WebPage
source organization: University of South Wales