Infrared Thermography in Symptomatic Knee Osteoarthritis: Joint Temperature Differs Based on Patient and Pain Characteristics

Abstract

The aim of this study was to evaluate osteoarthritis (OA) patients with infrared thermography to investigate imaging patterns as well as demographic and clinical characteristics that influence knee inflammation. Forty patients with one-sided symptomatic knee OA were included and evaluated through knee-specific PROMs and the PainDETECT Questionnaire for neuropathic pain evaluation. Thermograms were captured using a thermographic camera FLIR-T1020 and temperatures were extracted using the software ResearchIR for the overall knee and the five ROIs: medial, lateral, medial patella, lateral patella, and suprapatellar. The mean temperature of the total knee was 31.9 ± 1.6 °C. It negatively correlated with age (rho = −0.380, p = 0.016) and positively correlated with BMI (rho = 0.421, p = 0.007) and the IKDC objective score (tau = 0.294, p = 0.016). Men had higher temperatures in the knee medial, lateral, and suprapatellar areas (p = 0.017, p = 0.019, p = 0.025, respectively). Patients with neuropathic pain had a lower temperature of the medial knee area (31.5 ± 1.0 vs. 32.3 ± 1.1, p = 0.042), with the total knee negatively correlating with PainDETECT (p = 0.045). This study demonstrated that the skin temperature of OA symptomatic knees is influenced by demographic and clinical characteristics of patients, with higher joint temperatures in younger male patients with higher BMI and worst objective knee scores and lower temperatures in patients affected by neuropathic pain.

Active Breaks Reduce Back Overload during Prolonged Sitting: Ergonomic Analysis with Infrared Thermography

“…The attention of researchers towards the use of IRT as an auxiliary tool in the analysis of the human body is increasing, particularly in the application of the musculoskeletal system [ 7 , 8 ] within different age ranges [ 9 ] or daily activities [ 10 ]. Moreover, the application has also extended to other fields, such as sport [ 11 ] and posture [ 12 ], but also in pathological subjects with metabolic alterations [ 13 ], breast cancer [ 14 ], rheumatic diseases, and osteoarthritis [ 15 , 16 ], and even in the field of musculoskeletal disorders [ 17 ]. IRT has been applied to various fields of musculoskeletal disorders, such as scoliosis [ 18 ], arthritis [ 19 ], and low back pain [ 20 ].…”

Usability Assessment of Technologies for Remote Monitoring of Knee Osteoarthritis

“…Although these technologies offer interesting insights, they do not reveal the underlying physiological alterations of the knee. To this aim, other technologies may be used: infrared thermography can monitor skin temperature and indirectly assess synovial inflammation processes, which play a pivotal role in the pathophysiology of OA [10] , [11] , [12] . Interestingly, other non-invasive sensing methods, such as wearable knee bioimpedance measuring systems, have recently been used to quantify the electrical impedance of knee joint tissues, which can be correlated with knee pain during daily activities [13] .…”

Intra‐articular injections in sport‐active patients with degenerative cartilage lesions or osteoarthritis of the knee: a systematic review

“…They represent one of the most common causes of knee pain and performance deterioration in athletes, with studies showing a higher incidence of knee OA in athletes compared to the general population [1, 22, 40, 45]. This is ascribable to the continuous cartilage solicitation and frequent overuse injuries during physical activity, leading to its premature degeneration, joint inflammation, and ultimately favouring the early development of OA [15, 16, 30, 45]. These patients can experience symptoms ranging from knee pain and loss of function, which negatively impact their sport activity, resulting in reduced performance and even early retirement from sport [55].…”