A recent study published in Scientific Reports explored the combination of infrared thermography with rasterstereography (an optical method to analyze the three-dimensional shape of the back) with the goal of assessing posture in healthy individuals. The finding is revealing: combining both technologies makes it possible to identify postural asymmetries, functional overloads, and compensation patterns that would otherwise go unnoticed.

The analysis showed a clear relationship between postural asymmetries and thermal variations in the back muscles, offering a new approach to identifying functional overloads even in healthy individuals, before pathology appears.

In men, the most significant negative correlations were observed between lumbar temperature and trunk imbalance (r = −0.42; p = 0.032). In women, different correlations were found; the most significant negative correlation was between lumbar temperature and the lumbar lordosis angle (r = −0.50; p = 0.004).

The importance of this work lies not only in its methodological innovation, but also in its implications for daily practice. Medicine and physiotherapy have long sought non-invasive, quick, and reproducible tools to monitor patient status in real time. Thermography meets those conditions: in less than a minute, a complete map of the thermal distribution of the back is obtained, reflecting vascular and muscular activity.

By correlating these data with posture, a new pathway opens to understanding how biomechanics and physiology interrelate. And most importantly: it is a method that can be repeated as often as necessary, with no radiation and no discomfort for the patient.

The added value: objective data

One of the major problems in preventive health and rehabilitation is the lack of objective metrics. The follow-up of mild scoliosis, muscle imbalance, or recurrent low back pain often depends on clinical observation or pain perception questionnaires. With thermography, each session is recorded as a quantitative image, allowing both professional and patient to clearly and reproducibly see the progression.

This is perhaps the greatest differentiating value of thermography: it does not replace the clinical eye—it enhances it with data.

Applied to posture, thermography becomes a combined method:

• It identifies muscle imbalances that predispose to injury.
• It enables objective monitoring of therapeutic exercise programs.
• It provides visual and quantitative reports that increase patient confidence.

It integrates with other methods (such as ultrasound or MRI), offering complementary information focused on function, not just structure.

When used alongside thermography based on the ThermoHuman method, professionals can access:

• Automatic image processing.
• Longitudinal comparisons over time.
• Standardized reports for medical records and patient communication.
• A database that facilitates applied research within the clinic itself.

A new standard in postural assessment

In a context where more and more patients seek scientific evidence that a treatment works, having a tool that translates physiology into visual data can make the difference between being just another clinic or becoming a benchmark in precision medicine and longevity.

Conclusion

The study shows that thermal patterns of the back are directly related to postural parameters, and that these correlations differ between men and women. This reinforces the usefulness of thermography as an objective metric to evaluate postural asymmetries and compensations.

Discover how to integrate infrared thermography into your clinic and transform postural monitoring into an objective, reproducible, and data-driven process.

Today, precision medicine is not a concept of the future—it is an accessible reality. And thermography is ready to take its place in the arsenal of clinics that understand that health is not improvised; it is measured.

Reference

Roggio, F., Petrigna, L., Trovato, B., Zanghì, M., Sortino, M., Vitale, E., ... & Musumeci, G. (2023). Thermography and rasterstereography as a combined infrared method to assess the posture of healthy individuals. Scientific Reports, 13(1), 4263.