Download PDF
CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 · Indian J Radiol Imaging 2013; 23(03): 281-283
DOI: 10.1055/s-0041-1734381
Miscellaneous

Thermography in ocular inflammation

Ankush A Kawali
Uvea Clinic, Aravind Eye Hospital, Avinashi Road, Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu, India
› Author Affiliations Financial support and sponsorship Nil.
› Further Information
Also available at
  PDF Download Permissions and Reprints

Abstract

Background and Objectives: The purpose of this study was to evaluate ocular inflammatory and non-inflammatory conditions using commercially available thermal camera. Materials and Methods: A non-contact thermographic camera (FLIR P 620) was used to take thermal pictures of seven cases of ocular inflammation, two cases of non-inflammatory ocular pathology, and one healthy subject with mild refractive error only. Ocular inflammatory cases included five cases of scleritis, one case of postoperative anterior uveitis, and a case of meibomian gland dysfunction with keratitis (MGD-keratitis). Non-inflammatory conditions included a case of conjunctival benign reactive lymphoid hyperplasia (BRLH) and a case of central serous chorio-retinopathy. Thermal and non-thermal photographs were taken, and using analyzing software, the ocular surface temperature was calculated. Results: Patient with fresh episode of scleritis revealed high temperature. Eyes with MGD-keratitis depicted lower temperature in clinically more affected eye. Conjunctival BRLH showed a cold lesion on thermography at the site of involvement, in contrast to cases of scleritis with similar clinical presentation. Conclusion: Ocular thermal imaging is an underutilized diagnostic tool which can be used to distinguish inflammatory ocular conditions from non-inflammatory conditions. It can also be utilized in the evaluation of tear film in dry eye syndrome. Its applications should be further explored in uveitis and other ocular disorders. Dedicated "ocular thermographic" camera is today′s need of the hour.

Keywords

Dry eye - infl ammation - scleritis - thermography - uveitis


Publication History

Article published online:
30 July 2021

© 2013. Indian Radiological Association. This is an open access article published by Thieme under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonDerivative-NonCommercial-License, permitting copying and reproduction so long as the original work is given appropriate credit. Contents may not be used for commercial purposes, or adapted, remixed, transformed or built upon. (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).

Thieme Medical and Scientific Publishers Private Ltd.
A-12, Second Floor, Sector -2, NOIDA -201301, India

 

  • References

  • 1 Morgan PB, Tullo AB, Efron N. Infrared thermography of the tear film in dry eye. Eye 1995;9:615-8.
  • 2 Kawasaki S, Mizoue S, Yamaguchi M, Shiraishi A, Zheng X, Hayashi Y, et al. Evaluation of filtering bleb function by thermography. Br J Ophthalmol 2009;93:1331-6.
  • 3 Mapstone R. Ocular thermography. Br J Ophthalmol 1970;54:751-4.
  • 4 Mapstone R. Corneal thermal patterns in anterior uveitis. Br J Ophthalmol 1968;52:917-21.
  • 5 Stefanie PetrouBinder. Thermography shows enormous promise for diagnosis and treatment of eye diseases. Eurotimes. Available from: http://www.escrs.org/eurotimes/march2003/thermo.asp [Last accessed on 2003 Mar].
  • 6 Mapstone R. Determinants of corneal temperature. Br J Ophthalmol 1968;52:729-41.
  • 7 Tan JH, Ng EY, Acharya UR. An efficient automated algorithm to detect ocular surface temperature on sequence of thermograms using snake and target tracing function. J Med Syst 2011;35:949-58.
  • 8 Rolando M, Refojo MF, Kenyon KR. Increased tear evaporation in eyes with keratoconjunctivitis sicca. Arch Ophthalmol 1983;101:557-8.
  • 9 Sen HN, Sangave AA, Goldstein DA, Suhler EB, Cunningham D, Vitale S, et al. A Standardized Grading System forscleritis. Ophthalmology 2011;118:768-71.