[Thermographic diagnosis of arthritis in peripheral joints]

The measurement of absolute temperatures on the surface of the human body using quantitative thermography allows this technique to be used in rheumatology, for the diagnosis and monitoring the course of inflammatory diseases of the locomotor system. The patient is exposed to a room temperature of 18 degrees C and the skin temperature measured over the joint for a defined area (region of interest). Inflamed joints show distinctly higher absolute temperatures than normal ones within the observation time of 40 minutes. Moreover, the skin over healthy joints cools faster and to a greater extent than skin over inflamed joints, whose temperatures remain the same or even rise minimally in more acute cases. Using two measurements, the determination of the absolute temperatures (static thermography), and the changes in these temperatures within a definite time interval (dynamic thermography) it is thus possible to establish a diagnosis of arthritis in the regions of the peripheral joints with the help of standardised nomograms with an accuracy of more than 90%, and to follow the course of the disease more exactly.