Skin temperature measurement

NewsBot · Jun 22, 2006

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Three Types of Skin-Surface Thermometers: A Comparison of Reliability, Validity, and Responsiveness.
Am J Phys Med Rehabil. 2006 Jul;85(7):553-558

OBJECTIVE:: To compare the reliability, validity, and responsiveness of a thermistor thermometer (thermistor) and two different infrared thermometers (one designed to measure tympanic temperature and one for skin temperature).

DESIGN:: Reliability and validity were evaluated by making two separate measurements from the skin at identical spots of each hand, forearm, shoulder, thigh, shin, and foot in 17 healthy subjects. Intramuscular temperature was recorded at the hand and shin sites. Test-retest reliability was calculated using intraclass correlation for each instrument. Pearson correlation assessed the relationship between the skin and intramuscular temperatures at the hand and shin sites (validity). Each instrument's ability to measure temperature change (responsiveness) was assessed by measuring skin temperatures serially from 17 limbs of ten patients with complex regional pain syndrome undergoing intravenous regional sympathetic blockade. Responsiveness index values were calculated.

RESULTS:: Reliability was strong and similar for each device (intraclass correlation: thermistor = 0.96, tympanic = 0.96, skin = 0.97), as was validity (r: thermistor = 0.90, tympanic = 0.92, skin = 0.92). Responsiveness was marginally better for the infrared skin device (responsiveness index: skin = 4.2, tympanic = 3.6, thermistor = 3.6).

CONCLUSIONS:: For the purposes of clinical electrodiagnostic laboratory and other physiatry applications, the performance of the infrared thermometers is equal to or superior to that of the traditionally used thermistor. All three devices are highly reliable and valid, whereas the infrared skin device is slightly more responsive. Infrared thermometers have the advantage of being quicker to operate and more portable
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Admin2 · Jun 22, 2006

Skin temperature

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Home Monitoring of Foot Skin Temperatures to Prevent Ulceration

NewsBot · Mar 4, 2018

Comparison of non-contact infrared skin thermometers.
Fletcher T et al
J Med Eng Technol. 2018 Mar 1:1-7. doi: 10.1080/03091902.2017.1409818.

Non-contact infra-red skin thermometers (NCITs) are becoming more prevalent for use in medical diagnostics. Not only are they used as an alternative means of estimating core body temperature but also to assess the diabetic foot for signs of inflammation prior to ulceration. Previous investigations have compared the performance of NCITs in a clinical setting against other gold standard methods. However, there have been no previous investigations comparing the performance of NCITs in assessing temperature measurement capability traceable to the International Temperature Scale of 1990 (ITS-90). A metrological assessment of nine common NCITs was carried out over the temperature range of 15-45 °C using the National Physical Laboratory's blackbody reference sources to identify their accuracy, repeatability, size-of-source and distance effects. The results are concerning in that five of the NCITs fell far outside the accuracy range stated by their manufacturers as well as the medical standard to which the NCITs are supposed to adhere. Furthermore, a 6 °C step change in measurement error over the temperature range of interest for the diabetic foot was found for one NCIT. These results have implications for all clinicians using NCITs for temperature measurement and demonstrate the need for traceable calibration to ITS-90.
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NewsBot · May 31, 2018

Reliability of a novel thermal imaging system for temperature assessment of healthy feet
N. L. Petrova, A. Whittam, A. MacDonald, S. Ainarkar, A. N. Donaldson, J. Bevans, J. Allen, P. Plassmann, B. Kluwe, F. Ring, L. Rogers, R. Simpson, G. Machin and M. E. Edmonds
Journal of Foot and Ankle Research201811:22

Background
Thermal imaging is a useful modality for identifying preulcerative lesions (“hot spots”) in diabetic foot patients. Despite its recognised potential, at present, there is no readily available instrument for routine podiatric assessment of patients at risk. To address this need, a novel thermal imaging system was recently developed. This paper reports the reliability of this device for temperature assessment of healthy feet.

Methods
Plantar skin foot temperatures were measured with the novel thermal imaging device (Diabetic Foot Ulcer Prevention System (DFUPS), constructed by Photometrix Imaging Ltd) and also with a hand-held infrared spot thermometer (Thermofocus® 01500A3, Tecnimed, Italy) after 20 min of barefoot resting with legs supported and extended in 105 subjects (52 males and 53 females; age range 18 to 69 years) as part of a multicentre clinical trial. The temperature differences between the right and left foot at five regions of interest (ROIs), including 1st and 4th toes, 1st, 3rd and 5th metatarsal heads were calculated. The intra-instrument agreement (three repeated measures) and the inter-instrument agreement (hand-held thermometer and thermal imaging device) were quantified using intra-class correlation coefficients (ICCs) and the 95% confidence intervals (CI).

Results
Both devices showed almost perfect agreement in replication by instrument. The intra-instrument ICCs for the thermal imaging device at all five ROIs ranged from 0.95 to 0.97 and the intra-instrument ICCs for the hand-held-thermometer ranged from 0.94 to 0.97. There was substantial to perfect inter-instrument agreement between the hand-held thermometer and the thermal imaging device and the ICCs at all five ROIs ranged between 0.94 and 0.97.

Conclusions
This study reports the performance of a novel thermal imaging device in the assessment of foot temperatures in healthy volunteers in comparison with a hand-held infrared thermometer. The newly developed thermal imaging device showed very good agreement in repeated temperature assessments at defined ROIs as well as substantial to perfect agreement in temperature assessment with the hand-held infrared thermometer. In addition to the reported non-inferior performance in temperature assessment, the thermal imaging device holds the potential to provide an instantaneous thermal image of all sites of the feet (plantar, dorsal, lateral and medial views).
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