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Infrared Thermography in the Evaluation of Carpal Tunnel Syndrome

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Aspects of Computational Intelligence: Theory and Applications

Part of the book series: Topics in Intelligent Engineering and Informatics ((TIEI,volume 2))

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Abstract

The Aim of the study was to identify the temperature difference between physiologically healthy and pathologically hand affected by carpal tunnel syndrome (CTS). For the purposes of this study were created two databases of 190 thermograms of dorsal side of hands. The first database consists of normal thermograms of physiologically healthy hands called reference group (RG n= 174). The second is the database with 16 pathological hands ( CTS n=16) with clinically diagnosed CTS in 9 patients. Pre-surgical thermograms of the volunteers’ hands affected by CTS were obtained using infrared thermography (Thermocamera Fluke Ti55/20). We have observed the temperature distribution in the entire hand and partial temperatures for two years. The main significant areas for this study were the center point of carpals (T1) and the area of distal phalanges on middle fingers (T5). The Index of Median Nerve (D MI=(T1-T5) were determined based on resulting data. Test results obtained from measurements of the two points on the dorsal side of hands have showed that the temperature of CTS hands is typically higher in the phalanges as opposed to the wrist (D MI≤0; 75,0%), while the temperature is the lowest in the distal phalanges (T5) of healthy hands (D MI>0, 68.4%). The calculated sensitivity of diagnostic test with the confidence interval 0,750±0.202 and the specificity of diagnostic test with the confidence interval 0,684±0.069 show that thermography could be a promising method in the diagnostic process of CTS.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. CEIT-KE, Košice, Slovakia

    Mária Tkáčová

  2. Technical University of Košice, Košice, Slovakia

    Radovan Hudák & Jozef Živčák

  3. University of Prešov, Prešov, Slovakia

    Ivana Živčáková

Authors
  1. Mária Tkáčová
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  2. Radovan Hudák
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  3. Jozef Živčák
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  4. Ivana Živčáková
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Correspondence to Mária Tkáčová .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Dept. of Cybernetics, and Artificial Intelligence, Technical University of Košice, Letná 9, Košice, 04200, Slovakia

    Ladislav Madarász

  2. Faculty of Mechanical Engineering, Dept. of Biomedical Engineering, Technical University of Košice, Letná 9, Košice, 04200, Slovakia

    Jozef Živčák

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Tkáčová, M., Hudák, R., Živčák, J., Živčáková, I. (2013). Infrared Thermography in the Evaluation of Carpal Tunnel Syndrome. In: Madarász, L., Živčák, J. (eds) Aspects of Computational Intelligence: Theory and Applications. Topics in Intelligent Engineering and Informatics, vol 2. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-30668-6_23

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-30668-6_23

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-642-30667-9

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-642-30668-6

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