The use of thermal infrared imaging to assess the efficacy of a therapeutic exercise program in individuals with diabetes.

Al-Nakhli HH¹, Petrofsky JS, Laymon MS, Arai D, Holland K, Berk LS.

Author information

Abstract

BACKGROUND:

Exercise is of great value for individuals with diabetes in helping to control their hemoglobin A1c levels and in increasing their insulin sensitivity. Delayed-onset muscle soreness (DOMS) is a common problem in healthy individuals and in people who have diabetes. People with diabetes are also faced with metabolic and endothelial impairments, which could make DOMS even worse. But because they usually have neuropathies, they may not feel this soreness appropriately, leading to premature return to exercise and causing further injuries.

RESEARCH DESIGN:

One hundred eighteen subjects participated in this study and were divided into four groups. Two groups (healthy and diabetes) performed a series of abdominal exercises, and the other two groups (healthy and diabetes) performed a series of arm exercises to induce DOMS. Skin temperature above the muscle was assessed using a thermal infrared camera, and perceived soreness of the exercised muscle was assessed using a 100-mm visual analog scale. Serum myoglobin concentrations were also measured.

RESULTS:

There was a significant increase in skin temperature 24 h post-exercise for all four exercise groups (P<0.05), where the combined average increase in skin temperature for all four groups was approximately 0.65°C from baseline. Also, 24 h post-exercise, all four groups were significantly sorer than they were at baseline (P<0.05). Serum myoglobin levels were also significantly higher on day 3 compared with day 1 (P<0.05).

CONCLUSION:

Infrared thermal imaging may be a valuable technique of seeing which muscles are sore hours or even days after the exercise is over. Thus, thermal imaging would be an efficient and painless way of looking at DOMS in both healthy individuals and individuals who have diabetes, even if they are facing neurological problems.

Thermal imaging – a hotspot for the future?: A case report

Ronald J Cook, Shobhan Thakore and Neil M Nichol

Accident and Emergency Department, Ninewells Hospital and Medical School, Dundee DD1 9SY, UK

Case report:

A 6-year-old boy presented to accident and emergency with his mother complaining of a painful right elbow following a fall that day. He fell whilst walking up steps and gave a history of directly striking the elbow on the step. He had not been using the arm since. There was a recent history of a comminuted intra-articular fracture of the proximal ulna of the same elbow, and a cast had been removed just 5 weeks previously.

The patient was seen and examined by an experienced A&E senior house officer. He was difficult to assess and was complaining of pain in the entire arm. There was no swelling or deformity and no apparent bony tenderness to the limb. He was unwilling to actively move the elbow joint, however there was a good range of passive movement throughout the arm and good grip strength was noted. An X-ray of the elbow was performed and no bony injury or effusion of the elbow joint was apparent. The child was treated for a soft tissue injury of the elbow, advised regular analgesia and discharged.

The patient represented two days later complaining of persistent pain to the arm. He was now localising pain to the wrist and there was a corresponding area of tenderness over the distal radius. A thermal image was taken of the limb using a hand held FTI Mv thermal imager interfacing with LIPS Mini PC software. The image identified an obvious “hotspot” corresponding to the area of tenderness over the distal radius, which clearly differed from a thermal image of the normal wrist. Subsequent X-ray of the wrist revealed an undisplaced greenstick fracture of the distal radius. The child was treated with a plaster cast, referred to the orthopaedic fracture clinic and made an uneventful recovery.

 http://goo.gl/lfESE

What are the benefits of using Medical Infrared Imaging? 

The procedure is simple, fast, performed in a relaxing manner, and is 100% safe. What separates digital infrared imaging from X-ray, MRI, and other structural imaging methods is its ability to locate infrared markers that may indicate inflammation, circulatory problems, neuropathies, and many other health conditions. The FDA has cleared digital infrared imaging as an adjunctive screening tool to be used with structural imaging methods and other tests to help pinpoint possible problems. 

http://goo.gl/gyZRE

What are the most important specifications when purchasing a thermal imaging camera?

With regard to the imaging camera itself: the absolute detector resolution (ex. 640x480), spatial resolution, sensitivity, frame rate, spectral band and the type of bolometer are good starting points. The quality of the digital imaging software is also of extreme importance. The ideal imaging system provides exceptional image quality while providing ease of use. Please click here for more important information.

http://spectronir.com/index.php/faq#5

What is Medical Thermal Imaging?

http://bit.ly/Sh1UuU