Early diagnosis of diabetic peripheral neuropathy based on infrared thermal imaging technology

Aims The purpose of this study was to detect and compare the surface temperature of plantar vessels in mild diabetic peripheral neuropathy (DPN) patients and healthy controls, to explore a simple, convenient and reliable method for early diagnosis of DPN, and to explore the influence of sex and age on vascular surface temperature. Materials and Methods In this study, 60 mild DPN patients (30 males and 30 females) and 60 healthy volunteers were randomly recruited according to their age and sex. Intra-class correlation coefficient was used to evaluate the repeatability of skin temperature measurement in the vascular area. A general linear model was used to analyse the difference of skin temperature between mild DPN patients and healthy controls. Results The infrared detection results of skin temperature corresponding to blood vessels showed excellent test-retest reliability. There was no significant difference in skin temperature between sex and age. But there were significant differences in skin temperature between mild DPN patients and healthy controls, except for the posterior tibial artery. Conclusions For mild DNP patients, in case of no obvious abnormality in the infrared detection of lower extremity arterial surface temperature, the small vessels have shown early abnormal body surface temperature, that is, the surface temperature of related vessels increased. The research conclusions of this article not only enable us to better understand the correlation between body surface temperature and hemodynamic parameters, but also provide an in vivo, non-invasive, and convenient way of thinking and methods for early diagnosis of DPN.

Automated summary

This study aimed to detect and compare surface temperatures of plantar vessels in mild diabetic peripheral neuropathy (DPN) patients and healthy controls. Results showed significant differences in skin temperatures between the two groups, with excellent test-retest reliability in infrared detection. Gender and age did not have a significant impact on skin temperature.