Abstract
Appendicitis is the most frequent acute abdominal disease and there are actual effective diagnostic tools for its detection. The objective of this study was to determine whether a thermal imaging camera is a useful tool for diagnosing acute appendicitis on the basis of abdominal skin surface temperature changes which reflect intra-abdominal inflammation. The prospective data consisting of surgical and pathological findings of 51 patients who had undergone appendectomy between January 2013 and December 2014 with the diagnosis of acute appendicitis was collected, as well as thermal imaging camera recordings. A handheld infrared (IR) thermal imaging camera (ITIC) was used to take measurements. Of the 51 patients studied, 30 were male and 21 were female. Of these, 12 had their highest temperature measurement in the epigastric and 17 in the umbilical areas. These 2 groups constituted 56.9% of the patients. Regarding the lowest temperature measurement, 10 patients had the lowest temperature in the right inguinal and 15 in the hypogastric area. These 2 numbers constituted 49% of the patients. This is the first report concerning the use of a thermal camera as a diagnostic tool for the evaluation of acute abdominal illness. Considering the results of our study, ITIC is not feasible as a new diagnostic tool for acute appendicitis. It may be suitable for determining superficial inflammation; however, it is not suitable for determining deep inflammation.
Highlights
Appendicitis is the most frequent acute abdominal disease and there are actual effective diagnostic tools for its detection
The objective of this study was to determine whether a thermal imaging camera is a useful tool for diagnosing acute appendicitis on the basis of abdominal skin surface temperature changes which reflect intra-abdominal inflammation
This is the first report concerning the use of a thermal camera as a diagnostic tool for the evaluation of acute abdominal illness
Summary
Appendicitis is the most frequent acute abdominal disease and there are actual effective diagnostic tools for its detection. All the objects over −273°C (0 K) emit thermal energy with an infrared (IR) wavelength. This radiation is proportional to the vibration and rotation of the molecules of the object. A thermal camera is a device that senses the thermal model of an object in the IR wavelength spectrum, without physical contact. It consists of an optical mechanical unit, detector and processing unit. A lens collects the IR light and focuses it on an IR detector, after which the processing unit creates an electronic image This image contains a color spectrum from blue to yellow according to the temperature, where blue represents the coldest area and yellow the hottest (Fig. 1). With the technological developments in IRT, it is increasingly being used in many fields of medicine for diagnostic purposes.[3,6]
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