Infrared Thermography with High Accuracy in a Neonatal Incubator

Overview

Journal Ann Biomed Eng

Specialty Biomedical Engineering

Date 2022 Mar 3

PMID 35237903

Authors

Keisuke Hamada

Eiji Hirakawa

Hidetsugu Asano

Hayato Hayashi

Takashi Mine

Tatsuki Ichikawa

Yasuhiro Nagata

Affiliations

Soon will be listed here.

Abstract

As the accuracy of body temperature measurement is especially critical in premature infants on admission to the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU), noninvasive measurement using infrared thermography (IRT) has not been widely adopted in the NICU due to a lack of evidence regarding its accuracy. We have established a new calibration method for IRT in an incubator, and evaluated its accuracy and reliability at different incubator settings using a variable-temperature blackbody furnace. This method improved the accuracy and reliability of IRT with an increase in percentage of data with mean absolute error (MAE) < 0.3 °C to 93.1% compared to 4.2% using the standard method. Two of three IRTs had MAE < 0.1 °C under all conditions examined. This method provided high accuracy not only for measurements at specific times but also for continuous monitoring. It will also contribute to avoiding the risk of neonates' skin trouble caused by attaching a thermistor. This study will facilitate the development of novel means of administering neonatal body temperature.

Citing Articles

Continuous monitoring using thermography can capture the heat oscillations maintaining body temperature in neonates.

Morimoto A, Nakamura S, Koyano K, Nishisho S, Nakao Y, Arioka M Sci Rep. 2024; 14(1):10449.

PMID: 38714775 PMC: 11076520. DOI: 10.1038/s41598-024-60718-y.

References

Cowling B, Lau L, Wu P, Wong H, Fang V, Riley S . Entry screening to delay local transmission of 2009 pandemic influenza A (H1N1). BMC Infect Dis. 2010; 10:82. PMC: 3152767. DOI: 10.1186/1471-2334-10-82. View

Uxa F . Thermal control of the newborn. Kangaroo. 1994; 3(1):67-8. View

Abbas A, Heimann K, Jergus K, Orlikowsky T, Leonhardt S . Neonatal non-contact respiratory monitoring based on real-time infrared thermography. Biomed Eng Online. 2012; 10:93. PMC: 3258209. DOI: 10.1186/1475-925X-10-93. View

ADAMSON Jr S, TOWELL M . THERMAL HOMEOSTASIS IN THE FETUS AND NEWBORN. Anesthesiology. 1965; 26:531-48. DOI: 10.1097/00000542-196507000-00017. View

Cao Y, Tisse C . Shutterless solution for simultaneous focal plane array temperature estimation and nonuniformity correction in uncooled long-wave infrared camera. Appl Opt. 2013; 52(25):6266-71. DOI: 10.1364/AO.52.006266. View

Pusnik I, Drnovsek J . Infrared ear thermometers--parameters influencing their reading and accuracy. Physiol Meas. 2005; 26(6):1075-84. DOI: 10.1088/0967-3334/26/6/016. View

Pomerance J, Lieberman R, Ukrainski C . Neonatal thermography. Pediatrics. 1977; 59(3):345-51. View

Abbas A, Leonhardt S . Intelligent neonatal monitoring based on a virtual thermal sensor. BMC Med Imaging. 2014; 14:9. PMC: 4015601. DOI: 10.1186/1471-2342-14-9. View

Nunnally M, Jaeschke R, Bellingan G, Lacroix J, Mourvillier B, Rodriguez-Vega G . Targeted temperature management in critical care: a report and recommendations from five professional societies. Crit Care Med. 2010; 39(5):1113-25. DOI: 10.1097/CCM.0b013e318206bab2. View

10.

Knobel-Dail R, Holditch-Davis D, Sloane R, Guenther B, Katz L . Body temperature in premature infants during the first week of life: Exploration using infrared thermal imaging. J Therm Biol. 2017; 69:118-123. PMC: 5657603. DOI: 10.1016/j.jtherbio.2017.06.005. View

11.

Bell D . Public health interventions and SARS spread, 2003. Emerg Infect Dis. 2004; 10(11):1900-6. PMC: 3329045. DOI: 10.3201/eid1011.040729. View

12.

Samadi N, Thapa D, Salimi M, Parkhimchyk A, Tabatabaei N . Low-Cost Active Thermography using Cellphone Infrared Cameras: from Early Detection of Dental Caries to Quantification of THC in Oral Fluid. Sci Rep. 2020; 10(1):7857. PMC: 7217835. DOI: 10.1038/s41598-020-64796-6. View

13.

Charles J, Francis J . Design of a thermal reference system for use in thermography. Rev Sci Instrum. 1973; 44(3):291-4. DOI: 10.1063/1.1686109. View

14.

Ghassemi P, Pfefer T, Casamento J, Simpson R, Wang Q . Best practices for standardized performance testing of infrared thermographs intended for fever screening. PLoS One. 2018; 13(9):e0203302. PMC: 6145558. DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0203302. View

15.

Knobel R, Guenther B, Rice H . Thermoregulation and thermography in neonatal physiology and disease. Biol Res Nurs. 2011; 13(3):274-82. PMC: 3775585. DOI: 10.1177/1099800411403467. View

16.

Curcio B, Haberman J . Infrared thermography: a review of current medical application, instrumentation and technique. Radiol Technol. 1971; 42(4):233-47. View

17.

Tran Q, Han D, Kang C, Haldar A, Huh J . Effects of Ambient Temperature and Relative Humidity on Subsurface Defect Detection in Concrete Structures by Active Thermal Imaging. Sensors (Basel). 2017; 17(8). PMC: 5579559. DOI: 10.3390/s17081718. View

18.

Aw J . The non-contact handheld cutaneous infra-red thermometer for fever screening during the COVID-19 global emergency. J Hosp Infect. 2020; 104(4):451. PMC: 7134396. DOI: 10.1016/j.jhin.2020.02.010. View

19.

Asano H, Hirakawa E, Hayashi H, Hamada K, Asayama Y, Oohashi M . A method for improving semantic segmentation using thermographic images in infants. BMC Med Imaging. 2022; 22(1):1. PMC: 8721998. DOI: 10.1186/s12880-021-00730-0. View

20.

Formenti D, Ludwig N, Gargano M, Gondola M, Dellerma N, Caumo A . Thermal imaging of exercise-associated skin temperature changes in trained and untrained female subjects. Ann Biomed Eng. 2012; 41(4):863-71. DOI: 10.1007/s10439-012-0718-x. View