Thermographic Eye Temperature as an Index to Body Temperature in Ponies

Infrared thermography (IRT) is a passive, remote, and noninvasive method of measuring surface temperatures. Select surface locations, such as the eye, could indicate body temperature. To investigate whether thermographic eye temperatures were associated with body temperatures and could be used to detect febrile ponies, we measured IRT eye temperatures, rectal temperatures, and implanted thermal microchip temperatures from 24 male ponies daily for 3 consecutive days. Information regarding distance of the pony from the IRT device, presence of direct sunlight during the measurement period, and ambient temperature were also collected. A multivariate linear regression analysis indicated that 60.41% of the variance in IRT was accounted for by rectal temperature, sunlight, and distance between the camera and the pony, with rectal temperature being the major contributor to variance (46.23%). Using a rectal temperature of >38.6°C (101.5°F) as the indicator of febrile status, sensitivity and specificity of the IRT device used to detect the febrile ponies were found to be 74.6% and 92.3%, respectively, when using the maximum IRT eye temperature per pony per day. In conclusion, IRT eye temperature could be a preliminary screening tool to determine whether a more time-consuming, labor–intensive, and invasive method (e.g., rectal temperature) is warranted for fever validation.