Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jun 16, 2026
Measurement of the Hand Transmitted Vibration of the Human Hand Arm System During Operation of a Hand Tractor
Published on: June 16, 2021
Infrared thermometry in the diagnosis of hand-arm vibration syndrome
1Department of Medicine, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada. syouakim@telusplanet.net
Background:
Clinicians need an accurate diagnostic test for hand-arm vibration syndrome (HAVS).
Aims:
To validate a simple thermometric method to diagnose HAVS-related Raynaud's phenomenon.
Methods:
Fifteen workers with photographically confirmed HAVS-related Raynaud's phenomenon were compared to controls without Raynaud's phenomenon and an occupational history of hand-arm vibration exposure. Digit temperatures were measured using an infrared thermometer before and after immersion in 5 degrees C water for 1 min.
Results:
The HAVS patients differed significantly from the controls in terms of baseline temperature, rewarming time and rate. The fingertip-base temperature gradient was more commonly positive among the controls.
Conclusions:
The test method evaluated in this study is simple, cheap and accurate. If the pre-test probability is at least 35%, the best test variable to confirm the diagnosis of HAVS-related Raynaud's phenomenon is the time to rewarm to baseline of the first three fingertips providing the interval is > or =8-9 min.
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