Thermal Parametric Imaging in the Evaluation of Skin Burn Depth

• Published in: IEEE transactions on biomedical engineering 2007-02, Vol.54 (2), p.303-312
• Main Authors: Ruminski, Jacek, Kaczmarek, Mariusz, Renkielska, Alicja, Nowakowski, Antoni
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Active-dynamic IR thermal imaging; Animals; Biomedical measurements; burn depth; Burns - diagnosis; Burns - physiopathology; Diagnosis, Computer-Assisted - methods; Heat detection; Humans; Image analysis; In Vitro Techniques; Infrared detectors; Infrared imaging; Infrared Rays; Magnetic resonance imaging; Optical imaging; parametric imaging; Reproducibility of Results; Sensitivity and Specificity; Severity of Illness Index; Skin; Skin - injuries; Skin - physiopathology; Skin Temperature; Surgery; Swine; Thermography - methods; Ultrasonic imaging; Wounds
• ISSN: 0018-9294; 1558-2531
• DOI: 10.1109/TBME.2006.886607

The aim of this paper is to determine the extent to which infrared (IR) thermal imaging may be used for skin burn depth evaluation. The analysis can be made on the basis of the development of a thermal model of the burned skin. Different methods such as the traditional clinical visual approach and the IR imaging modalities of static IR thermal imaging, active IR thermal imaging and active-dynamic IR thermal imaging (ADT) are analyzed from the point of view of skin burn depth diagnostics. In ADT, a new approach is proposed on the basis of parametric image synthesis. Calculation software is implemented for single-node and distributed systems. The properties of all the methods are verified in experiments using phantoms and subsequently in vivo with animals with a reference histopathological examination. The results indicate that it is possible to distinguish objectively and quantitatively burns which will heal spontaneously within three weeks of infliction and which should be treated conservatively from those which need surgery because they will not heal within this period