Case Series/Study

(CS-013) Early Detection of Darkly Pigmented Skin Abnormalities with Long Wave Infrared Thermography: It's All Relative!

Co-Author(s):

Introduction: Skin is an indicator of general health as it mirrors our internal health. Recognizing this in darker patients is challenging. A visual skin assessment is the gold standard in detecting problems. Classic signs of skin damage include visual and tactile changes such as warmth, edema, induration, redness, bruising, and inability to identify a blanching response. A visual assessment may be difficult to assess on dark skin. An inflammatory response creates tissue temperature differentials creating an increase in thermal energy. This increase may occur because of an inflammatory response initiated by a possible concomitant active metabolic bacteria. Methods: Long Wave Infrared Thermography (LWIT) images were taken as an assessment adjunct of 5 darkly pigmented patients. Infrared cameras measure the radiation being emitted by the human body which is translated into a temperature gradient producing a colorful and powerful image. Specialized LWIT cameras detect radiation emitted in electromagnetic waves not visible to the human eye in the range of 8-14 microns in wavelength. The radiation that the human body emits is 12 microns. Setting a control point relative (the home run tying into the title) to the patient quantifies the temperature in degrees Celsius removing intrinsic and extrinsic variables. Results: Skin assessment using LWIT validated noted color changes in darker skin based on increased/decreased thermal energy resulting in recognition of various types of inflammatory/infectious conditions in the 5 cases presented. This case series demonstrated the impactful recognition of skin damage thermographically by providing clinicians with an image of a body area noting an objective, quantified, normal, or abnormal thermal response. Discussion: LWIT can help detect early signs of skin damage regardless of the amount of pigmentation. Studies have demonstrated how clinicians have difficulty recognizing skin damage in darker compared to lighter pigmented individuals. Now we have technology, LWIT, that is not only being used for prevention but ideal for early recognition of skin damage, especially in darker individuals which is a powerful bedside tool that provides advocacy for our patients. Trademarked Items: References: