Infrared Thermal Imaging of Patients With Acute Upper Respiratory Tract Infection: Mixed Methods Analysis

Abstract

Background: Upper respiratory tract infection is a common disease of the respiratory system. Its incidence is very high, and it can even cause pandemics. Infrared thermal imaging (IRTI) can provide an objective and quantifiable reference for the visual diagnosis of people with acute respiratory tract infection, and it can function as an effective indicator of clinical diagnosis. Objective:The aims of this study are to observe and analyze the infrared expression location and characteristics of patients with acute upper respiratory tract infection through IRTI technology and to clearly express the quantification of temperature, analyze the role of IRTI in acute upper respiratory tract diagnostic research, and understand the impact of IRTI in qualitative and quantitative research. Methods: From December 2018 to February 2019, 154 patients with acute upper respiratory tract infection were randomly selected from the emergency department of the First Affiliated Hospital of Guangzhou Medical University. Among these patients, 73 were men and 81 were women. The subjects were divided into two groups according to the presence of fever, namely, fever and nonfever groups. Qualitative and quantitative analyses of the infrared thermal images were performed to compare the results before and after application of the technology.Results: Using the method described in this paper, through the analysis of experimental data, we elucidated the role of IRTI in the diagnosis of acute upper respiratory tract infection, and we found that qualitative and quantitative IRTI analyses play important roles. Through the combination of theory and experimental data, the IRTI analysis showed good results in identifying acute upper respiratory tract infection.Conclusions: IRTI technology plays an important role in identifying the infrared expression location and characteristics of patients with acute upper respiratory tract infection as well as in the quantification of clear expression of body temperature, and it provides an objective and quantifiable reference basis for elucidating the pathogenesis of these patients.

Medical thermovision: possibilities and prospects of the method

“…При острых вирусных заболеваниях, например, коронавирусной инфекции (COVID-19) и гриппе, термография служит одним из ведущих методов, определяющих наличие заболевания, так как в основе патологического процесса лежит лихорадка [39,40]. Очевидно, что в связи с актуальностью данной проблемы в последние годы исследования в области термографии стали набирать обороты, но ограничиваться только измерением темпера-туры тела.…”

“…д.) и 395 наблюдений на здоровой щитовидной железе [24,39,40,42]. Это может указывать на большие возможности прибора в эндокринологии и необходимость рассмотрения более глубокого внедрения метода в данную область медицины.…”

Table_1.DOCX

“…Ten studies scored low risk ratings across all domains (11,12,18,20,24,25,27,30,36,39). One scored high-risk ratings across all domains (16). Overall, 17% of domain assessments were given an "unclear" rating due to insufficient information provided by study authors.…”

“…Three studies used IRT to identify raised skin temperatures from inflammation secondary to localised infections (13,16,24). One study applied IRT for the diagnosis of cellulitis in adults in the emergency department (13).…”

“…They further developed and validated a diagnostic model incorporating an IRT measured temperature difference of ≥0.47°C to achieve a Positive Predictive Value (PPV) of 85.7% and a Negative Predictive Value (NPV) of 100% for the diagnosis of cellulitis (13). One study investigated localised temperature changes around the nasopharynx in adult patients presenting to the emergency department with upper respiratory tract infection symptoms (16). Patients with tympanic temperatures ≥37.1°C also had higher absolute cutaneous temperatures overlying the nasopharynx.…”