Comparison of the Surface Thermal Patterns of Horses and Donkeys in Infrared Thermography Images.

Małgorzata Maśko,Tomasz Jasiński,Małgorzata Domino,Michał Romaszewski

doi:10.3390/ani10122201

Abstract

Simple SummaryIn this study, the thermal patterns of horses and donkeys in infrared thermography (IRT) images are analyzed and compared. Thermal patterns are defined as statistically significant differences between groups of regions of interest (ROIs) corresponding to underlying large muscles. The dataset used in the experiments consists of images of healthy and rested animals: sixteen horses and eighteen donkeys. Thermal patterns between species are compared, and the results are discussed along with special cases of animals identified as outliers. The results support the thesis about the similarities in the thermal patterns of horses and donkeys.Infrared thermography (IRT) is a valuable diagnostic tool in equine veterinary medicine; however, little is known about its application to donkeys. This study aims to find patterns in thermal images of donkeys and horses and determine if these patterns share similarities. The study is carried out on 18 donkeys and 16 horses. All equids undergo thermal imaging with an infrared camera and measurement of the skin thickness and hair coat length. On the class maps of each thermal image, fifteen regions of interest (ROIs) are annotated and then combined into 10 groups of ROIs (GORs). The existence of statistically significant differences between surface temperatures in GORs is tested both “globally” for all animals of a given species and “locally” for each animal. Two special cases of animals that differed from the rest are also discussed. The results indicate that the majority of thermal patterns are similar for both species; however, average surface temperatures in horses ( °C) are higher than in donkeys ( °C). This could be related to differences in the skin thickness and hair coat. The patterns of both species are associated with GORs, rather than with an individual ROI, and there is a higher uniformity in the donkeys’ patterns.

Highlights

Infrared thermography (IRT) is a non-invasive imaging technique that allows for the detection of radiant energy emitted by any object with a temperature above absolute zero
IRT has been used as a diagnostic tool in equine veterinary medicine since the mid-1960s, in the field of orthopedics, in the management of lameness [4,5,6,7]
This study evaluated differences in the surface temperatures of donkeys of varying age groups under changing environmental conditions, no studies to date have compared the thermal images of donkeys and horses obtained in the same circumstances

Summary

Introduction

Infrared thermography (IRT) is a non-invasive imaging technique that allows for the detection of radiant energy emitted by any object with a temperature above absolute zero. The surface temperature changes, reflecting heat emitted from overloaded or injured tissue, are considered a valuable indicator for identifying areas of inflammation and blood flow alterations [8,9]. This allows for the detection of temperature changes before they can be detected by palpation [10,11] and before the onset of other clinical signs of injury [11,12]. It should be kept in mind that the temperature measured from the body surface is related to the above internal conditions, and to the thermal properties of the skin and hair coat and the thermal gradient between the skin surface and the environment [25,26]

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