Acute appendicitis is a life-threatening pathology that requires urgent surgical intervention (Ferris, M., et al., 2017). This diagnosis remains challenging because its clinical presentation can be atypical and symptoms often overlap with other conditions that may or may not need surgical treatment (Ramirez-GarciaLuna, J. L., et al. 2020).
Recently, a study (Ramirez-GarciaLuna, J. L., et al. 2020) has evaluated skin infrared thermal imaging as a diagnostic adjunct for acute appendicitis in adults. For this purpose, they analyzed 51 patients with appendicitis, 20 with abdominal pain (no appendicitis) and 51 healthy controls.
They identified that abdominal region temperature <34°C discriminate healthy controls and patients with acute abdomen pain. Among this last group, a thermal asymmetry of the right abdominal region vs left abdominal region >0.35°C discriminate patients with and without appendicitis These results support that infrared thermography could be an adjunct tool in the diagnosis of appendicitis in locations with limited resources.
References
ThermoHuman has had the support of the Funds of the European Union and the Community of Madrid through the Operational Programme on Youth Employment. Likewise, ThermoHuman within the framework of the Export Initiation Program of ICEX NEXT, had the support of ICEX and the co-financing of the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF).
Thermohuman has received funding from the Centre for the Development of Industrial Technology (CDTI), in participation with the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF), for the R+D activities involved in creating a new tool, based on thermography, for the prediction and prevention of rheumatoid arthritis. See project detail.
