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Thermography applied in the diagnostic assessment of bone fractures

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Abstract

Infrared thermography has been used in many medical applications. Objective: The objective of this study was to investigate, through systematic review and meta-analysis, studies using medical thermography for the diagnosis fractures and clinical follow-up of bone healing. Methods: Articles were selected from SciELO, MEDLINE/PubMed, Lilacs, Google Scholar, and Science Direct databases, between the years 2000 to 2020, using the descriptors: medical image/clinical diagnosis/bone fracture/bone consolidation/thermographic analysis identified by the Health Sciences and Medical Subject Headings, in English, Portuguese, and Spanish. The results of the studies were combined through the fixed effects model using the Mantel–Haenszel method and random effects analysis using the DerSimonian–Laird method. The quality of the studies was evaluated using the QUADAS-2 scale and the level of evidence, by the GRADE system, regarding the effectiveness of infrared thermography in diagnosing bone fractures. Results: of 364 articles identified, 12 studies were selected for quantitative analysis. The meta-analysis showed a sensitivity of up to 97.5% and specificity of 98.8% in detecting bone injuries. Conclusions: The evaluation of bone fractures by infrared medical thermography has demonstrated high sensitivity, reliability, and efficacy as a complementary method for monitoring. Thus, it can minimize the use of ionizing radiation-based examinations such as X-rays.

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Funding

This research was funded by Araucária Foundation and CNPq for scholarships and support for the Coordination for Improvement of Higher Education Personnel—Brazil (CAPES)—Financing Code 001 and Project LAETA—UIDB/50022/2020, UIDP/50022/2020.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. CPGEI—Universidade Tecnológica Federal do Paraná, Curitiba, Av. Sete de Setembro, 3165—Rebouças CEP 80,230–901, Curitiba, PR, Brasil

    W. A. D. Strasse, D. P. Campos, C. J. A. Mendonça & P. Nohama

  2. PPGTS—Pontifícia Universidade Católica do Paraná, Curitiba, Brasil

    M. Ranciaro, G. N. Nogueira-Neto & P. Nohama

  3. UFPR – Universidade Federal do Paraná, Curitiba, Brasil

    K. R. G. De Oliveira

  4. PPGCS—Pontifícia Universidade Católica do Paraná, Curitiba, Brasil

    J. F. Soni

  5. Faculdade de Engenharia, Universidade do Porto, Porto, Portugal

    J. Mendes

  6. INEGI, Porto, Portugal

    J. Mendes

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  1. W. A. D. Strasse
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  8. G. N. Nogueira-Neto
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Contributions

WADS was involved in conceptualization; JM contributed to the methodology; KRGO was involved in the formal analysis and validation; WADS and CJAM contributed to the investigation; DPC was involved in the data curation; WADS and MR contributed to the writing–original draft preparation; JM, JFS, GNNN, and PN were involved in writing—review and editing; PN contributed to the funding acquisition, supervision and project administration.

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Correspondence to W. A. D. Strasse.

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Strasse, W., Ranciaro, M., De Oliveira, K. et al. Thermography applied in the diagnostic assessment of bone fractures. Res. Biomed. Eng. 38, 733–745 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s42600-022-00206-2

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