Relation Between Neck Skin Temperature Measurement and Carotid Artery Stenosis: In-Vitro Evaluation

Carotid artery stenosis is a form of atherosclerosis, where thrombus formation restricts the passage of blood through the carotid artery leading to irreversible damage in the brain tissue. The presence of stenosis in the carotid artery results in abnormal temperature maps on the external skin surface, which can be captured and quantified using noncontact/noninvasive infrared (IR) thermal imaging/thermography. In this study, a thermally charged in vitro carotid artery flow loop, using 0% and 75% stenosis models, was designed to study the thermal effect on the external skin surface. The carotid artery flow was encapsulated with polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) resembling neck tissue, of which the external surface temperature maps were studied using IR thermography. Using the mean temperature as a threshold value, the resultant thermal image was processed and normalized. Between the two stenosis models, disruption in the thermal features corresponding to the presence of stenosis was observed. The method described in this study paves the path to experimentally study the thermal effect of the presence of stenosis in the carotid artery.