DD current and TENS therapies in low back discopathy have an analgesic impact and improve functional fitness. The applied therapies have a comparable impact on researched parameters.

In physiotherapy, various physical agents are applied in order to combat pain, inflammation and to maximize the movement possibility of the treated person. Many physical modalities influence the body temperature; therefore, the therapy results may be directly visualized in terms of thermovision. The therapeutic doses and duration of treatment should be personalized according to the patient needs, feelings during the therapy, and the observed therapeutic results. Thermal imaging allows to visualize the skin temperature, as well as the temperature changes due to the physiotherapeutic procedures, and it is a helpful tool for therapy outcomes monitoring. In this paper, we analyzed the body response to therapeutic cooling (local cryotherapy) and heating (red and near infrared irradiation with special lamp) in two groups of volunteers: students (mean age 20.4) and older people (mean age 68.7). The physical agents were applied on the right thigh area. The mean temperatures in this areas were determined from thermal images before treatment, just after, and then 15 and 30 min after the therapy. The new MATLAB-based software was developed for image processing and analysis in selected regions of interests (ROI). The analysis revealed that in the case of heating the mean temperature returns to the initial one after 30 min in younger persons, whereas in elderly persons after 30 min it was still higher than that before the treatment. In the case of cooling, in older people the decrease of the mean temperature was smaller than in juniors. The analysis of temperature distribution in ROI in the untreated left leg revealed also that there is a systemic response to the physical agents, which was more visible after the application of cryotherapy. The thermovision allowed to find out the different responses to the physiotherapy in younger and older persons, what should be taken into account by therapy planning.

Most physical treatments have thermal effects. Effect of heat on the body is not always uniform and depends on the treated body surface, the intensity of the stimulus, the stimulus duration, changes in the intensity of the stimulus and the physical environment. Thermovision is a method that allows for precise determination of the temperature distribution of the tested body surface. The aim of the study was to evaluate the effect of sequence of execution of infrared irradiation combined with visible light, for simplicity called further IR and diadynamic currents (called further DD) on the distribution of skin surface temperature. We also evaluated whether the order of execution of physical treatments affects the consensual reaction and temperature variations depending on sex and body mass index. The study involved 28 volunteers-16 women and 12 men aged 19-28 years. The treatments were performed on the front of right thigh in two sequences-IR-DD and DD-IR. For measuring the temperature distribution, there was thermovision used. In each sequence, there were five images captured with the use of FLIR T335 camera. The significance of changes in skin temperature was rated with Student's t test for dependent samples, whereas the dependence on the treatments sequence and sexual differentiation was analyzed with the use of test for independent samples, and the correlations were evaluated by determining the Pearson's r linear correlation coefficient. In the assessment of statistical significance, the critical threshold a = 0.05 was used. Regardless of the treatments sequence, the average surface temperature of the right thigh after IR radiation increased by more than 4°C. However, there were no significant temperature changes observed after the treatment with diadynamic currents. More dynamic changes in the average temperature values were stated in the sequence DD-IR, as 30 min after the second treatment, the temperature was higher as compared to the initial value by 1°C. Statistically significant sex-dependent differences occurred only after infrared radiation.

No abstract

Ultrasound wave is a physical method commonly used in the rehabilitation process. Biological effects of ultrasound wave are complex, and they have been subject of several studies for many years. It is assumed that ultrasound wave causes an increase in tissue temperature; however, some study results stay in opposition to this statement. Thermal imaging is a method that helps to determine, in a precise way, the temperature distribution of the tested body surface area, which allows us to verify whether ultrasound waves always have thermal effects. The aim of the study was to evaluate the differences in temperature distribution depicted by thermal imaging, after the use of ultrasonic waves with two different values of frequency (1 and 3 MHz) in the area of Achilles tendon. The study involved 50 healthy students group in which there were 28 women and 22 men. The average age in the group was 20.54 years (±1.09). All study participants underwent ultrasound treatment with two different values of frequency. Skin temperature of the tested area was recorded with the use of thermographic camera. Ultrasound wave was applied to the area of Achilles tendon. Each person had the procedure performed twice with a seven-day time interval. There were ultrasonic waves with a frequency of 1 MHz applied one time and then ultrasonic wave with a frequency of 3 MHz applied once for the second time. Paraffin oil was used as a coupling medium. The result of Student's t test showed a statistically significant difference in mean temperature values measured immediately after treatment (3.3341) and 5 min after the treatment (2.6037) for a frequency of 3 and 1 MHz. A comparison of temperature values for both frequencies 10 min after the treatment and 15 min after the treatment was not statistically relevant. The results of the studies indicate that only ultrasonic treatment at a frequency of 3 MHz has influence on an increase of surface temperature.