[Measuring lateral skin temperature profile of premature infants in incubators with thermography]

Thermography enables the measurement of patients skin temperature profiles without stress caused by direct contact of probes to the skin. In previous incubator studies, frontal recordings were made through a hole in the top wall of the incubator hood. Using this method it is not possible to record the lateral temperature gradient from the back to the abdomen of the infant (in supine position), which is due to very limited heat loss near the incubator mattress. In this study temperature recordings were made from a lateral position. For this purpose a new front door of the incubator (Draeger 8000) was designed, which replaced the standard front door during measurements. In a clinical study thermography was compared to temperature measurements by standard thermistors. The mean difference between thermography and thermistors was 0.16 degree C. These results verify the use of thermography for measuring skin temperature of preterm infants in incubators.