Quantitative thermal indices in infrared imaging as auxiliary tool in the diagnosis of peripheral artery disease and diabetic peripheral neuropathy among patients with type 2 diabetes

Biomedical thermography, when used to monitor changes in metabolic heat released from human legs, allows the disclosure of metabolic deficiencies associated with asymmetric alterations in the presence of long-term type 2 diabetes mellitus. In this case series a clinical evaluation was performed in 10 patients clinically diagnosed with a time evolution of type 2 diabetes mellitus for more than 5 years: 5 males (62 ± 10 years) and 5 females (56 ± 10 years). The clinical examination relied on infrared thermography as the only auxiliary imaging technique to diagnose diabetic peripheral neuropathy and peripheral arterial disease. The clinical evaluation indicates 100% agreement with the image analysis according to the quantitative thermal indices: asymmetry and thermal response index (ATR) and the thermal response index (TRI). These findings indicate that the proposed image analysis is a useful and adaptable tool for detecting subtle clinical signs and supporting timely diagnostic and therapeutic decisions.