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Point-Of-Care Ultrasound Screening for Proximal Lower Extremity Deep Venous Thrombosis
Published on: February 10, 2023
Effectiveness of digital infrared thermal imaging in detecting lower extremity deep venous thrombosis
Fangge Deng1, Qing Tang2, Guangqiao Zeng1
1State Key Laboratory of Respiratory Disease, The First Affiliated Hospital of Guangzhou Medical University, Guangzhou 510120, China.
Insights
Infrared thermal imaging effectively detects deep venous thrombosis (DVT), showing abnormal limb temperatures in 96.88% of patients. This noninvasive technique aids in DVT screening by identifying specific thermal patterns and temperature differences.
Area of Science:
- Medical Imaging
- Vascular Medicine
- Diagnostic Technology
Background:
- Deep venous thrombosis (DVT) is a serious condition requiring accurate and timely diagnosis.
- Current diagnostic methods for DVT can be invasive or have limitations.
Purpose of the Study:
- To evaluate the effectiveness of infrared thermal imaging (IRTI) as a noninvasive adjunctive screening tool for lower limb DVT.
- To assess the diagnostic accuracy of IRTI in identifying DVT compared to established methods.
Main Methods:
- Infrared thermal imaging sensor used on 64 DVT patients and 64 healthy volunteers.
- Quantitative and qualitative analysis of infrared thermal images, measuring mean area temperature (T_area) and mean linear temperature (T_line).
- Comparison of temperature differences (TDs) between affected and unaffected limbs, and between DVT patients and controls.
Main Results:
- IRTI detected DVT in 96.88% of confirmed DVT patients.
- Abnormally high temperatures were observed in DVT-affected limbs.
- Significant temperature differences (P < 0.01) were found between DVT and non-DVT limbs/individuals.
Conclusions:
- Infrared thermal imaging demonstrates high effectiveness for DVT detection.
- IRTI serves as a valuable noninvasive adjunctive screening tool for lower limb DVT.
- Specific infrared presentation and distribution characteristics (PDCs) and temperature differences (TDs) support IRTI's diagnostic utility.
Purpose:
The authors aimed to determine the effectiveness of infrared thermal imaging (IRTI) as a novel, noninvasive technique in adjunctive diagnostic screening for lower limb deep venous thrombosis (DVT).
Methods:
The authors used an infrared thermal imaging sensor to examine the lower limbs of 64 DVT patients and 64 healthy volunteers. The DVT patients had been definitively diagnosed with either Doppler vascular compression ultrasonography or angiography. The mean area temperature (T_area) and mean linear temperature (T_line) in the region of interest were determined with infrared thermal imaging. Images were evaluated with qualitative pseudocolor analysis to verify specific color-temperature responses and with quantitative temperature analysis. Differences in T_area and T_line between the DVT limb and the nonaffected limb in each DVT patient and temperature differences (TDs) in T_area (TDarea) and T_line (TDline) between DVT patients and non-DVT volunteers were compared.
Results:
Qualitative pseudocolor analysis revealed visible asymmetry between the DVT side and non-DVT side in the presentation and distribution characteristics (PDCs) of infrared thermal images. The DVT limbs had areas of abnormally high temperature, indicating the presence of DVT. Of the 64 confirmed DVT patients, 62 (96.88%) were positive by IRTI detection. Among these 62 IRTI-positive cases, 53 (82.81%) showed PDCs that agreed with the DVT regions detected by Doppler vascular compression ultrasonography or angiography. In nine patients (14.06%), IRTI PDCs did not definitively agree with the DVT regions established with other testing methods, but still correctly indicated the DVT-affected limb. There was a highly significant difference between DVT and non-DVT sides in DVT patients (P < 0.01). The TDarea and TDline in non-DVT volunteers ranged from 0.19 ± 0.15 °C to 0.21 °C ± 0.17 °C; those in DVT patients ranged from 0.86 °C ± 0.71 °C to 1.03 °C ± 0.79 °C (P < 0.01).
Conclusions:
Infrared thermal imaging can be effectively used in DVT detection and adjunctive diagnostic screening because of its specific infrared PDCs and TDs values.
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