Medical infrared thermal imaging of canine appendicular bone neoplasia

J Sung,F Leyva,S Umbaugh,D Marino,C Loughin,C Dewey,M Lesser

doi:10.1186/s12917-019-2180-6

Abstract

BackgroundMedical infrared thermal imaging (MITI) is a noninvasive imaging modality used in veterinary medicine as a screening tool for musculoskeletal and neurological disease processes. An infrared camera measures the surface body heat and produces a color map that represents the heat distribution. Local trauma or disease can impair the autonomic nervous system, which leads to changes in the local dermal microcirculation and subsequent alteration of surface body heat. Disruption of autonomic flow to the cutaneous vasculature at deeper levels can also result in asymmetric thermographic results. The purpose of this study was to evaluate surface temperature differences between limbs affected by bone neoplasia and their normal contralateral limbs.ResultsA statistically significant difference in average temperature was noted between regions of interest of the two groups (paired difference: 0.53 C° ± 0.14; P = 0.0005). In addition, pattern recognition analysis yielded a 75–100% success rate in lesion identification.ConclusionsSignificant alterations noted with average temperature and thermographic patterns indicate that MITI can document discernible changes associated with the presence of canine appendicular bone tumors. While MITI cannot be used as the sole diagnostic tool for bone cancer, it can be used as a screening modality and may be applicable in early detection of cancer.

Highlights

Medical infrared thermal imaging (MITI) is a noninvasive imaging modality used in veterinary medicine as a screening tool for musculoskeletal and neurological disease processes
This study revealed that pattern recognition software can be used to successfully differentiate between thermographic patterns of a limb affected by bone neoplasia and its normal contralateral limb
It was concluded that the presence of bone neoplasia in the canine appendicular skeleton could affect the average thermal surface temperature as well as the thermographic pattern of the limb

Summary

Introduction

Medical infrared thermal imaging (MITI) is a noninvasive imaging modality used in veterinary medicine as a screening tool for musculoskeletal and neurological disease processes. Local trauma or disease can impair the autonomic nervous system, which leads to changes in the local dermal microcirculation and subsequent alteration of surface body heat. The purpose of this study was to evaluate surface temperature differences between limbs affected by bone neoplasia and their normal contralateral limbs. Primary canine appendicular neoplasia is a debilitating disease process that typically affects large to giant breed dogs and cause appendicular swelling, lameness, and even pathologic fractures [1,2,3]. Patients with bone neoplasia typically present with subtle and nonspecific clinical signs such as appendicular swelling or mild weightbearing lameness. A non-weightbearing lameness due to a pathologic fracture may be noted.

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