How much time do I need to measure with thermography?

Is it possible to perform thermographic analysis faster and more accurately? How much could you save by using Thermohuman? We’ll provide more details in this article.

Infrared thermography offers two approaches to analysis: a qualitative one based on visual and intuitive interpretation of colors, and a quantitative one that relies on temperature data from the thermogram. Although the second method allows for an objective analysis, it is characterized by being extremely labor-intensive and lacking reliability when done manually (Kroese et al., 2018). This is precisely what ThermoHuman software aims to address, and we can see an example of this with a study conducted in the prestigious Journal of Thermal Biology (you can read the article’s summary here).

In brief, 120 thermal images of the soles of 30 people’s feet were used, taken at four different times: before and after running on two different days.

One of the major obstacles in the application of infrared thermography in humans has always been the time required for quantitative analysis. However, with ThermoHuman, this problem is solved in such a way that manual analysis, which used to take 8 minutes per individual, is now reduced to less than 1 minute per person. This represents a time savings of 86%, leading to greater efficiency in evaluating temperature measurements.

Furthermore, these time-saving figures we’ve mentioned are related to the analysis of the feet, but what if we were talking about a larger analysis area such as the lower limbs?

Conclusion

ThermoHuman allows for faster analysis, achieving an 88.4% accuracy in image interpretation. Forget about spending countless hours on analysis and use ThermoHuman for quicker and more reliable results, allowing you to focus on what truly matters: your athletic performance and/or your health.

References

Fernández-Cuevas, I., Marins, J. C., Gómez Carmona, P. M., García-Concepción, M. Á., Arnáiz Lastras, J., & Sillero Quintana, M. (2012, 5-8 September). Reliability and reproducibility of skin temperature of overweight subjects by an infrared thermography software designed for human beings. Paper presented at the XII Congress EAT 2012, Porto, Portugal.

Fernández-Cuevas, I., Marins, J. C., Arnáiz Lastras, J., Gómez Carmona, P., & Sillero Quintana, M. (2016). Validity, Reliability, and Reproducibility of Skin Temperature in Healthy Subjects Using Infrared Thermography. In P. Humbert, H. Maibach, F. Fanian & P. Agache (Eds.), Agache’s Measuring the Skin (pp. 1311-1318). Cham: Springer International Publishing.

Gomes Moreira, D., Costello, J.T., Brito, C.J., Adamczyk, J.G., Ammer, K., Bach, A.J.E., Costa, C.M.A., Eglin, C., Fernandes, A.A., Fern ́andez-Cuevas, I., Ferreira, J.J.A., Formenti, D., Fournet, D., Havenith, G., Howell, K., Jung, A., Kenny, G.P., Kolosovas- Machuca, E.S., Maley, M.J., Merla, A., Pascoe, D.D., Priego Quesada, J.I., Schwartz, R.G., Seixas, A.R.D., Selfe, J., Vainer, B.G., Sillero-Quintana, M. (2017). Thermographic imaging in sports and exercise medicine: a Delphi study and consensus statement on the measurement of human skin temperature. J. Therm. Biol. 69, 155–162. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jtherbio.2017.07.006.

Kroese, L. F., Sneiders, D., Kleinrensink, G. J., Muysoms, F., & Lange, J. F. (2018). Comparing different modalities for the diagnosis of incisional hernia: a systematic review. Hernia, 22(2), 229-242.

Marins, J. C. B., Moreira, D. G., Cano, S. P., Quintana, M. S., Soares, D. D., de Andrade Fernandes, A., … & dos Santos Amorim, P. R. (2014). Time required to stabilize thermographic images at rest. Infrared Physics & Technology, 65, 30-35.

Priego Quesada, J. I., Kunzler, M. R., & Carpes, F. P. (2017). Methodological aspects of infrared thermography in human assessment. In Application of Infrared Thermography in Sports Science (pp. 49-79). Springer, Cham.

Requena-Bueno, L., Priego-Quesada, J. I., Jimenez-Perez, I., Gil-Calvo, M., & Pérez-Soriano, P. (2020). Validation of ThermoHuman automatic thermographic software for assessing foot temperature before and after running. Journal of Thermal Biology, 92, 102639.