Thermal imaging of corneal transplant rejection

Abstract

Corneal transplant rejection is one of the most frequent complications, with a reported incidence of 16-30%. In our current research, we investigated the use of infrared thermography to detect ocular surface temperature. We also looked at a case of corneal transplant rejection and this case had an elevated ocular surface temperature when compared to the contralateral eye and other eyes without corneal transplant rejection. Twenty-three eyes of twelve patients would serve as control to one eye with clinically evident corneal transplant graft rejection. A Flir T400 320×240 pixel, digital thermal camera was used to take a digital photograph and an infrared photograph of each eye. The images were analyzed with the Flir web viewer. We present here a case of corneal transplant rejection documented with both slit lamp photos as well as infrared and corneal surface photos. The studied patient's unaffected eye, and the control group's trends did indeed bring the expected results and proved thermal imagery in this particular field a viable examination method. We feel that ocular thermography is a useful adjunctive diagnostic tool and that it may be useful to monitor routine corneal transplant patients. Further research into the temperature changes of corneal transplant patients is needed and may allow for earlier intervention for graft rejection.