The Expert Profile

To provide context for our audience, we would like to start from the beginning:
Who is Danielli Mello, and what has your career path been like to become one of the leading researchers in exercise physiology within the military sector in Brazil?

Danielli Mello is a Full Professor at the Physical Education College of Brazilian Army (EsEFEx) in Brazil and a faculty member of the Graduate Program in Human and Operational Performance at Air Force University, as well as a collaborator in the
Graduate Program in Exercise and Sport Sciences at the State University of Rio de Janeiro. She also a Professor at the CBF Academy License Coaching Courses. She earned her degree in Physical Education from the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro (1998), her PhD in Public Health from the Oswaldo Cruz Foundation (2008), and completed two postdoctoral fellowships: one in Extreme Environment Physiology at the University of Portsmouth, United Kingdom (2016), and another in Infrared Thermography applied to Sports at the Universidad Politécnica de Madrid, Spain (2019).

Her research focuses on exercise physiology, thermal stress, thermoregulation, and the application of technology to monitor both elite athletes and tactical athletes, including military personnel. She has led and collaborated on projects evaluating the performance of Brazilian Army teams in disciplines such as military pentathlon,

triathlon, athletics, shooting, and soccer, as well as professional teams such as the women’s volleyball team of SESC Flamengo. Her work also extends to applied studies on health, injury prevention, and technological innovation in sports. Dr. Mello serves as Deputy Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Physical Education and as Director of the Education and Prevention Department at SOBRASA (Brazilian Lifesaving Society). She is the author of the book Indoor Cycling: Scientific and Methodological Foundations and the organizer of Science Applied to Physical Exercise and Sport. She is also a frequent speaker at national and international conferences, consolidating her role as a reference in exercise physiology and human performance in extreme environments.

The Military Context

Getting into the research: What led you to implement thermography in your analyses with the Brazilian Army? What were you looking to solve with this technology?

My interest in implementing thermography within the Brazilian Army emerged from the need for a non-invasive, rapid, and cost-effective tool capable of providing meaningful physiological information in real-world operational settings. Compared with many traditional methods used in exercise and sports medicine, thermography offers the advantage of monitoring large groups without physical contact, discomfort, or interference with military activities.

My research focuses on exercise physiology in extreme environments, particularly the effects of heat stress on the health, safety, and operational performance of tactical athletes. In this context, thermography has become an important tool for investigating thermoregulatory responses during military training and operations. One of the main applications of thermography in our research is evaluating how different military uniforms and protective equipment affect heat dissipation and skin temperature distribution. This helps us better understand the thermal burden imposed by operational clothing and its potential impact on physiological strain and performance. In addition, thermography allows us to monitor the physiological consequences of physical training loads. Changes in thermal patterns can provide valuable information about metabolic stress, muscular overload, recovery status, and potential areas of excessive strain. This information supports decision-making related to training management, recovery strategies, and injury prevention.

Ultimately, thermography enables us to bridge the gap between laboratory research and real-world military environments, providing practical and actionable data to improve both operational readiness and personnel health.

Today, we see many people using thermography in football or other disciplines, but not so much in the military world. Tell us a bit about the day-to-day use of thermography with military personnel: What advantages and disadvantages does working in this environment have compared to a purely sports-oriented one?

One of the main challenges is that military operations and training exercises rarely provide ideal conditions for thermographic assessments. Unlike a laboratory or professional sports setting, it is often difficult to control environmental factors or ensure the standardized acclimatization procedures required for optimal image acquisition. As a result, protocols frequently need to be adapted, postponed, or even cancelled depending on the characteristics of the mission, training exercise, or operational scenario.

In the military context, the primary objective is always mission success while ensuring the safety of both the individual soldier and the entire team. Research activities must therefore adapt to operational demands rather than the other way around. This requires flexibility and the ability to collect meaningful physiological data under real- world conditions.

At the same time, this environment offers significant advantages. Military studies are highly ecological, allowing us to evaluate personnel during authentic operational tasks rather than simulated laboratory scenarios. In addition, military populations often share similar routines, training schedules, equipment, and occupational demands, which facilitates the interpretation of physiological responses. Another important advantage is the strong culture of teamwork and commitment. Military personnel are generally highly motivated to participate in initiatives that may improve health, safety, performance, and mission effectiveness.

From a practical perspective, thermography provides valuable information that supports decision-making related to training management, recovery strategies, injury prevention, and heat stress monitoring. More importantly, the findings can lead to real-world interventions, including modifications to military equipment, protective clothing, operational procedures, physical training programs, and recovery protocols.

These improvements can directly contribute to enhancing soldier safety, reducing physiological strain, and ultimately increasing the likelihood of mission success.

For me, this is one of the most rewarding aspects of military research: generating scientific evidence that can be translated into practical solutions with a direct impact on operational readiness and the well-being of the tactical athlete.

The Value of ThermoHuman in Research

Many researchers devote a large part of their research time to data collection and the subsequent analysis of the collected sample. From your experience, how has ThermoHuman impacted your daily workflow and the efficiency of your research, both in data collection and subsequent analysis?

I have been using ThermoHuman in my research for approximately six years, since my first contact with the technology during my postdoctoral training at the Universidad Politécnica de Madrid (UPM), where I had the opportunity to work closely with Dr. Manuel Sillero and Ismael Fernández-Cuevas. Since then, it has become an integral part of my research workflow.

One of the greatest advantages of ThermoHuman is the efficiency it brings to both data processing and interpretation. In research, especially when working with large datasets, thermal image analysis can be extremely time-consuming. ThermoHuman significantly reduces this workload by automating image processing and providing standardized, objective analyses. This allows researchers to spend less time on manual procedures and more time interpreting results and generating scientific knowledge.

Another important benefit is the precision and consistency of the analyses. The software minimizes observer-dependent variability and facilitates comparisons across different time points, individuals, and studies. This is particularly valuable in longitudinal monitoring and large-scale field studies involving athletes and military personnel.

In addition, the visual outputs generated by the avatar-based reports are highly intuitive and easy to understand. Although the underlying data are complex, the software translates thermal information into clear visual representations that facilitate interpretation not only for researchers but also for coaches, health professionals, and military commanders. This visual approach helps bridge the gap between scientific data and practical decision-making.

For me, ThermoHuman is much more than an image analysis tool. It is a platform that transforms complex thermal data into actionable information, improving the quality, speed, and practical applicability of research findings.

Practical Application and Results

In your studies with military personnel and athletes, do you remember any specific case where thermography was particularly useful in detecting a potential injury or in making a decision right after taking the scan?

Yes, several cases come to mind. One of the most valuable applications of thermography in my practice has been the monitoring of athletes during the rehabilitation process following anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) reconstruction.

For example, I have worked with volleyball and military pentathlon athletes who underwent ACL surgery. During their rehabilitation, we performed monthly thermographic assessments to monitor thermal patterns around the knee and surrounding structures. These evaluations provided complementary information regarding tissue recovery and inflammatory responses, helping physiotherapists and strength and conditioning coaches make more informed decisions about progression through rehabilitation stages and return-to-sport readiness.

Another example involves Luiz Maurício, an Olympic javelin thrower, with whom I have worked as part of the sports science support team. Throughout the preparation cycle for the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, and now continuing toward Los Angeles 2028, thermography has been used as part of our training load monitoring strategy. Regular thermal assessments help identify abnormal patterns associated with excessive musculoskeletal stress, allowing adjustments to training loads, recovery strategies, and competition preparation before symptoms become clinically significant.

I have also observed situations during baseline screenings of athletes from professional sports teams where thermography identified atypical thermal asymmetries suggestive of potential underlying issues. In some of these cases, athletes were referred to the medical department for further evaluation and complementary diagnostic examinations. Although thermography is not a diagnostic tool by itself, it served as an important screening method that prompted earlier investigation and potentially prevented more serious injuries.

These experiences highlight one of the greatest strengths of thermography: its ability to provide rapid, non-invasive information that supports decision-making in real time.

Whether during rehabilitation, training load management, or injury-risk screening, thermography helps us identify changes early and intervene proactively rather than reactively.

How could ThermoHuman help "translate" complex scientific data into easy-to- understand visual metrics for physical trainers or military commanders who need to make quick decisions?

ThermoHuman translates complex thermal data into clear and practical information through quantitative metrics, thermal asymmetry indicators, and timeline analysis. These features allow coaches, clinicians, physiologists to quickly identify abnormal patterns, monitor changes over time, and make informed decisions.

By highlighting areas with greater thermal asymmetry and potential injury risk, the software supports rapid interventions, helping prevent the progression of minor issues into more serious clinical conditions while optimizing training, recovery, and operational readiness.

The Future and Recommendation

For a researcher or health professional taking their first steps: Why would you recommend using specialized software like ThermoHuman?

Yes, I would. Based on my experience in both research and applied practice, ThermoHuman is the software I would recommend to professionals starting in thermography. Over the years, I have worked with different thermal analysis platforms, and ThermoHuman stands out for its accuracy, reliability, and efficiency. The software automates many of the most time-consuming steps of image analysis, reducing processing time while maintaining consistency and objectivity. In addition, its quantitative metrics, asymmetry analysis, and visual reports make the results easier to interpret and communicate.

For researchers, this means greater standardization and confidence in the data. For health and performance professionals, it means faster access to actionable information that can support clinical and training decisions. In my opinion, it is currently one of the most complete and reliable solutions available for transforming thermal images into meaningful and practical insights.

What is the next challenge in your lines of research, and how do you think the evolution of thermal technology will help you achieve those new goals?

One of the next challenges in my research is moving thermography beyond controlled laboratory settings and into real-world environments. I would like to see thermal technology evolve similarly to biomechanics, with tools capable of reliable outdoor assessment and real-time monitoring.

This would allow us to evaluate both sports and tactical athletes during actual training, competitions, and operations, capturing physiological responses in the environments where performance truly occurs. Advances in portability, outdoor reliability, and real- time analysis will be essential to achieving this goal.