A methodology based on infrared thermography for the study of stress in hands of young people during the Trier Social Stress Test

Abstract

This work presents a non-invasive semiautomatic methodology through infrared thermography for the study of human stress in hands of young people (fingertips and palms) once the Trier Social Stress Test is completed. The regions of interest were the fingertips (these are influenced by the sympathetic nervous system) and the palms. The analysis of these parts of the hands was done through the thermal matrix, that is, at the temperature level. Once the analysis was made, significant differences were found between the pre-post test on the tips of the fingers, but not on the palms. A comparison between hands and a comparison between genders were made, however, no significant differences were found, which shows the thermal asymmetry of the body. With the differences found in the fingertips, a thermal index of emotions was proposed. For a better visualisation of the index, a colour palette for the ROI’s was proposed; one for men and another for women, this was due to the fact that a higher basal temperature was found in men compared to women. The study was carried out on 30 men and 30 women.