Thermography guidelines. TISEM consensus on human application

ThermoHuman brings you the most relevant scientific outcomes. Today we will speak about one of the most referenced publications into the human thermography topic: the consensus statement on the measurement of skin temperature, or in other words: TISEM consensus.

This post is based on the work published by Danilo Moreira and a board of 25 experts (2017) who were selected for their research experience on thermography in the fields of health and sport. The aim of these researchers was to write a checklist to perform a standardized thermographic analysis of skin temperature in humans.

With this study, Moreira and collaborators (2017) aimed to establish a standard consensus that would ensure that all thermographic measurements for scientific purposes comply with an established protocol. This model is based on the Delphi study methodology that includes the consensus agreement of a group of experts in thermography applied to sports and health. The members came from 13 different countries and represented different areas expertise: sports science (n = 8.33%), physiology (n = 7.29%), physical therapy (n = 3.13%) and medicine (n = 6.25%).

“A consensus was reached to establish 15 items, among which we highlight: information about the user to be evaluated, their physical activity, the camera configuration, the acclimatization process and the method of analysis of the thermographic images. The result is a checklist entitled: “Thermographic Imaging in Sports and Exercise Medicine (TISEM)”

Gomes Moreira et al. (2017)

TISEM checklist is a proposal to standardize the collection and analysis of skin temperature using infrared thermography. Furthermore, the authors intend that this consensus can be applied not only in the evaluation of bias in thermographic studies, but also to guide practitioners in the proper use of this analysis technique. The following image synthesizes and describes those 15 items to take into account.

Within the text, Gomes Moreira and collaborators (2017) pointed out that “the method of analysis including the software used and whether or not the analysis was completed manually or automatically should be described“. As you might know, we can find different software solutions that allows the user to analyze thermal images. The main difference between them, among other features, is whether the thermal images processing method is manual or automatic. ThermoHuman software is one of the few software solutions allowing a validated and automatic thermal image processing, 86% faster than other solutions. In addition to that, ThermoHuman software takes into account the TISEM consensus to guide the user when conducting an evaluation, allowing him to fulfill the 15 items mentioned by the document.

Finally, Gomes Moreira and collaborators (2017) concluded that due to the nature of the experts’ recommendations, users of this technique have to take into account the possibility that this consensus does not include all the questions about thermographic evaluation in humans. Therefore, we might see an evolution and update of this consensus in the coming years.

REFERENCE

Danilo Gomes Moreira, Joseph T. Costello, Ciro J. Brito, Jakub G. Adamczyk, Kurt Ammer, Aaron J.E. Bach, Carlos M.A. Costa, Clare Eglin, Alex A. Fernandes, Ismael Fernández-Cuevas, José J.A. Ferreira, Damiano Formenti, Damien Fournet, George Havenith, Kevin Howell, Anna Jung, Glen P. Kenny, Eleazar S. Kolosovas-Machuca, Matthew J. Maley, Arcangelo Merla, David Pascoe, Jose I. Priego-Quesada, Robert G. Schwartz, Adérito R.D. Seixas, James Selfe, Boris G. Vainer and Manuel Sillero-Quintana. Thermographic imaging in sports and exercise medicine: a Delphi study and consensus statement on the measurement of human skin temperature, Journal of Thermal Biology, http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jtherbio.2017.07.006