Thermography signs of lung inflammation

Abstract

The purpose of the study was to find out if infrared thermography of the thorax is the method to select the patients with lung inflammationMaterial, methods: Thermograms were accumulated and processed in the «TVision» cloud storage («Dignosis», Russia). Special regions of interest (ROI) were automatically created: 1. on the front and back of the thorax roughly in the projection of the upper lobe (ULP) and the lower lobe (LLP) of the lung; 2.e lines on the front surface of the thorax. Two types of temperature gradients were calculated: between ULP and LLP (by subtraction mean temperature in LLP from mean temperature in ULP) (ΔT1); between both ULP and both LLP on the back of the thorax (ΔT2). Approximation confidence value for the polynomial trend line (R²) along the marked lines on the front surface of the thorax also calculated. Totally 489 thermograms, were analyzed, included 337 from healthy patients (group 1) and 152 from patients with confirmed diagnosis of lung inflammation (group 2)Results: R² value was higher in the group 1 compare to group 2 (0.58 ± 0.16 vs 0.3 ± 0.2, p < 0.05). ΔT1 value was negative only in patients from group 2, as well as ΔT1 value greater than 0.4 °C.Conclusion: three independent thermographic criteria suitable for detecting lung inflammation were found, so infrared thermography is the valuable method for screening this pathology.