Thermal imaging for characterization of skin adaptation in prosthesis users

The purpose of this research was to investigate the use of time to peak temperature (TTP) as a metric for characterizing skin adaptation in prothesis users. Two experiments were conducted. A static pressure was applied to a participant's transtibial residual limb for 10 min, then a thermal imaging camera was used to capture the time-varying temperature response. The TTP, time to reach 70 % of the maximum temperature, was shorter at locations adapted to mechanical stress, the patellar tendon and anterior lateral distal region (mean 41.5 s and 47.2 s, respectively), than at mid-limb locations (127.1 s). In the second experiment, an able-bodied participant rubbed a towel across the anterior proximal aspect of his lower limb each day for 5 min per day for 11 days. His mean TTP in the region decreased from 68.5 s at Day 1 to 47.2 s at Day 11. The results suggest that a short TTP reflects skin well adapted to mechanical stress and a long TTP reflects skin not well adapted to mechanical stress. Investigations characterizing relationships between TTP and health outcomes should be pursued.