A review on inflammatory pain detection in human body through infrared image analysis

Temperature difference in the skin surface reflects the abnormality present in the human body. Considering the phenomenon, detection and forecasting the change of temperature is the principal objective of using Medical Infrared Thermography (MIT) as a diagnostic tool for inflammatory pain diseases. Medical Infrared Thermography (MIT) is a non-invasive, non-contact and fast imaging technique that record and monitor the flow of body temperature by receiving the infrared emitted from the skin surface. Based on the standardization of thermogram acquisition and processing techniques and by the adoption of advanced infrared cameras, presently it is feasible to detect the minor temperature difference of the skin surface in the high-resolution infrared images. Recently, the research on inflammatory pain detection using medical infrared thermography concentrated on the area of temperature and statistical analysis based automated detection of abnormality from the thermograms. The paper introduces a significant review focusing on the area of different inflammatory pain detection using infrared thermography along with the environmental condition, protocol selection, and acquisition system specification in summarized tabular format. Based on the rigorous study of the publications in the area of inflammatory pain thermography, the paper also explores the area of thermogram processing and analysis of pain in a review work format.