The use of thermal imaging in assessing skin temperature following cryotherapy: a review

Abstract

a b s t r a c tBackground: Cryotherapy is used in various clinical and sporting settings to reduce odema, decrease nerve conduction velocity, decrease tissue metabolism and to facilitate recovery after exercise induced muscle damage. The basic premise of cryotherapy is to cool tissue temperature and various modalities of cryotherapy such as whole body cryotherapy, cold spray, cryotherapy cuffs, frozen peas, cold water immersion, ice, and cold packs are currently being used to achieve this. However, despite its widespread use, little is known regarding the effectiveness of different cryotherapy modalities to reduce skin temperature. Objectives: To provide a synopsis of the use of thermal imaging as a method of assessing skin temperature following cryotherapy and to report the magnitude of skin temperature reductions associated with various modalities of cooling. Design: Structured narrative review. Methods: Three electronic databases were searched using keywords and MESH headings related to the use of thermal imaging in the assessment of skin temperature following cryotherapy. A hand-search of reference lists and relevant journals and text books complemented the electronic search. Summary: Nineteen studies met the inclusion criteria. A skin temperature reduction of 5-15 1C, in accordance with the recent PRICE (Protection, Rest, Ice, Compression and Elevation) guidelines, were achieved using cold air, ice massage, crushed ice, cryotherapy cuffs, ice pack, and cold water immersion. There is evidence supporting the use and effectiveness of thermal imaging in order to access skin temperature following the application of cryotherapy. Conclusions: Thermal imaging is a safe and non-invasive method of collecting skin temperature. Although further research is required, in terms of structuring specific guidelines and protocols, thermal imaging appears to be an accurate and reliable method of collecting skin temperature data following cryotherapy. Currently there is ambiguity regarding the optimal skin temperature reductions in a medical or sporting setting. However, this review highlights the ability of several different modalities of cryotherapy to reduce skin temperature.

The effect of using different regions of interest on local and mean skin temperature

“…The magnitude of these variations significantly exceeds variations found in the current study. However, the use of thermistors in both of these studies carries several limitations influencing variability, including the pressure at which the device is applied (Stoll and Hardy, 1950), the microenvironment created by the contact point (Buono and Ulrich, 1998;Tyler, 2011) and the fact that each measurement is merely a spot reading which would be unlikely to reflect the average temperature of the area (Costello et al, 2012b). Furthermore, both Livingstone et al (1987) and Frim et al (1990) conducted investigations using only torso sites.…”

Considerations for the measurement of core, skin and mean body temperatures

“…12: Aldrich, 1928;Hardy, 1934a;Pennes, 1948;Nakayama et al, 1977Nakayama et al, , 1981Livingstone et al, 1987;Torii et al, 1992;Vallerand et al, 1992b;Choi et al, 1997;Zaproudina et al, 2008;Costello et al, 2012;Fournet et al, 2013;Marins et al, 2014). Unfortunately, this technique cannot be used to determine skin temperatures under clothing without significant modification.…”

Reliability and validity of skin temperature measurement by telemetry thermistors and a thermal camera during exercise in the heat

“…Infrared thermometry is another technique that is used in research (Costello et al 2012) and clinical environments (Ring & Ammer 2012) where T SKIN is an important variable to measure. Thermal cameras receive and process infrared radiation emitted from a surface, using this information to display the production and dissipation of heat.…”