Measurements of change in thermal images due to applied pressure

Thermal imaging is of value to medical professionals because of its low risk and non-invasive properties. While thermal imaging has been explored in the area of pressure ulcers, many relevant papers address existing pressure ulcers and few address the prevention of pressure ulcers. This paper aims to examine the potential of thermal imaging in the prevention of pressure ulcers by extracting temperature-based and region-based measurements from thermal images and quantifying thermal patterns. A subject was asked to press on a pressure sensor mat at two specified intensities, and a series of thermal images were taken before and after to track thermal behaviour. These images were subjected to standard image processing techniques before temperature specific contour and area measurements were extracted as well as region specific intensity and weighted centroid measurements. Results indicated that the contour and area measurements were able to capture the temperature pattern of the whole hand, while the intensity measurements were able to indicate region specific thermal patterns. These results suggest that the extraction of measurements from a series of thermal images can capture and quantify visually identifiable thermal patterns of the hand over time. These findings will be expanded upon in future work by further examining different measurements, sharper images, different equipment and the involvement of elderly patients. While future collection of patient data is expected to yield different thermal patterns, this paper has demonstrated recognition and quantification of a pattern, regardless of the pattern itself.