• Owens EF Jr
• Stein T

• Image Interpretation, Computer Assisted
• Skin Temperature
• Thermography / instrumentation

Paraspinal skin temperature measurements are commonly used by chiropractors as part of their assessment for vertebral subluxation. One way to interpret paraspinal thermograms is to look for characteristic patterns in the contour of the graph. Although this method is subjective, there have been attempts to develop analytical methods that might provide objective determination of the presence of patterns in the temperature  information.

This report describes the development of specialized pattern analysis software that accepts temperature data exported from the TyTron Thermographic instrument. The TyTron is a dual probe infrared thermographic instrument that provides temperature information for the skin on the left and right sides of the spine. The user can compare scans from the left side, the right side, and the delta or side-to-side difference. The newly developed software provides tools for manipulation and visualization of two overlapping plots and for calculation of congruence between thermographs taken on different occasions.

Using the pattern analysis software, the user can shift and crop the thermographs to produce the best subjective overlap before calculating congruence factors. After the scans are prepared for analysis, five congruence factors are calculated using a variety of algorithms. All of the calculations are scaled to produce factors from 0 to 1, where 1 is perfect congruence. The calculated factors are area ratio, slope comparison, correlation coefficient, and slope and amplitude comparisons using methods similar to those of Stewart and Boone. The pattern analysis software is being used in studies of thermographic pattern stability at Sherman College and Life University.

Author Keywords: Chiropractic, Skin Temperature, Thermography, Pattern Analysis

This abstract is reproduced with the permission of the publisher.