Repeatability of infrared ocular thermography in assessing healthy and dry eyes.

PURPOSE To investigate the inter-image, inter-occasion and inter-examiner repeatability of NEC infrared thermo-tracer TH 9260 in assessing healthy and dry eyes. METHODS Ocular surface temperature (OST) was recorded using NEC infrared thermo-tracer TH 9260 on 21 healthy and 15 dry eyes. Data from the right eyes were analyzed. Marking of the ocular surface and OST acquisition was performed using a new 'diamond' demarcation method. Twelve OST indices were obtained at three different time points following a blink: 0s, 5s and 10s. Inter-image, inter-occasion and inter-examiner repeatability of the infrared ocular thermography was evaluated by calculating coefficients of repeatability (COR). RESULTS Ten out of the twelve tested OST indices had good repeatability with small inter-image variability (%COR: 0.2-0.9), inter-occasion variability (%COR: 2.1-3.7) and inter-examiner variability (%COR: 1.5-3.7) for the three studied time points. Two of the OST indices (temperature standard deviation of the region of interest and radial temperature difference) had poor repeatability with much larger inter-image variability (%COR: 8.9-140.7), inter-occasion variability (%COR: 47.5-153.5) and inter-examiner variability (%COR: 54.7-142.0) for the three studied time points. CONCLUSIONS Most of the metrics adopted in this assessment can be considered to be highly repeatable.

[1]  P B Morgan,et al.  Corneal surface temperature decreases with age. , 1999, Contact lens & anterior eye : the journal of the British Contact Lens Association.

[2]  R Mapstone,et al.  Corneal thermal patterns in anterior uveitis. , 1968, The British journal of ophthalmology.

[3]  U. Rajendra Acharya,et al.  Analysis of Normal Human Eye with Different Age Groups using Infrared Images , 2009, Journal of Medical Systems.

[4]  A. Corvi,et al.  Evaluation of ocular surface temperature and retrobulbar haemodynamics by infrared thermography and colour Doppler imaging in patients with glaucoma , 2007, British Journal of Ophthalmology.

[5]  P. Morgan.  Ocular thermography in health and disease. , 1994 .

[6]  L. Tong,et al.  Corneal staining characteristics in limited zones compared with whole cornea documentation for the detection of dry eye subtypes. , 2013, Investigative ophthalmology & visual science.

[7]  James S Wolffsohn,et al.  The effect of contact lens wear on dynamic ocular surface temperature. , 2005, Contact lens & anterior eye : the journal of the British Contact Lens Association.

[8]  D. Altman,et al.  STATISTICAL METHODS FOR ASSESSING AGREEMENT BETWEEN TWO METHODS OF CLINICAL MEASUREMENT , 1986, The Lancet.

[9]  Huihua Kenny Chiang,et al.  Noncontact detection of dry eye using a custom designed infrared thermal image system. , 2011, Journal of biomedical optics.

[10]  Chih Yen Chen,et al.  Development of infrared thermal imager for dry eye diagnosis , 2006, SPIE Optics + Photonics.

[11]  A. Tomlinson,et al.  The role of tear physiology in ocular surface temperature , 2000, Eye.

[12]  Yuichi Ohashi,et al.  Screening for dry eye with newly developed ocular surface thermographer. , 2011, American journal of ophthalmology.

[13]  J. Marshall,et al.  Corneal surface temperature change as the mode of stimulation of the non-contact corneal aesthesiometer. , 1999, Cornea.

[14]  Line Kessel,et al.  The relationship between body and ambient temperature and corneal temperature. , 2010, Investigative ophthalmology & visual science.

[15]  A. Beckett,et al.  AKUFO AND IBARAPA. , 1965, Lancet.

[16]  S. Orgül,et al.  Variability in the Measurement of Corneal Temperature Using a Noncontact Infrared Thermometer , 1999, Ophthalmologica.

[17]  Z. Ding,et al.  Monitoring of drug and stimulation induced cerebral blood flow velocity changes in rat sensory cortex using spectral domain Doppler optical coherence tomography. , 2011, Journal of biomedical optics.

[18]  A. Corvi,et al.  Ocular Surface Temperature in Central Retinal Vein Occlusion: Preliminary Data , 2007, European journal of ophthalmology.

[19]  Philip B. Morgan,et al.  Ocular and skin temperature in ophthalmic postherpetic neuralgia , 1996 .

[20]  D. Altman,et al.  Statistics notes: Measurement error , 1996 .

[21]  R Mapstone,et al.  Normal thermal patterns in cornea and periorbital skin. , 1968, The British journal of ophthalmology.

[22]  Achim Langenbucher,et al.  Correlation of corneal thickness, endothelial cell density and anterior chamber depth with ocular surface temperature in normal subjects. , 2015, Zeitschrift fur medizinische Physik.

[23]  N A Brennan,et al.  Ocular surface temperature. , 1989, Current eye research.

[24]  R Mapstone,et al.  Determinants of corneal temperature. , 1968, The British journal of ophthalmology.

[25]  Christine Purslow,et al.  The Relation between Physical Properties of the Anterior Eye and Ocular Surface Temperature , 2007, Optometry and vision science : official publication of the American Academy of Optometry.

[26]  W A Ray,et al.  Statistical analysis of multi-eye data in ophthalmic research. , 1985, Investigative ophthalmology & visual science.

[27]  Shu-Lang Liao,et al.  Application of digital infrared thermal imaging in determining inflammatory state and follow-up effect of methylprednisolone pulse therapy in patients with Graves’ ophthalmopathy , 2007, Graefe's Archive for Clinical and Experimental Ophthalmology.

[28]  P B Morgan,et al.  Potential Applications of Ocular Thermography , 1993, Optometry and vision science : official publication of the American Academy of Optometry.

[29]  Rajendra Acharya U,et al.  Automated detection of eye and cornea on infrared thermogram using snake and target tracing function coupled with genetic algorithm , 2009 .

[30]  R Mapstone,et al.  Measurement of corneal temperature. , 1968, Experimental eye research.

[31]  K. Tsubota,et al.  Use of high-speed, high-resolution thermography to evaluate the tear film layer. , 1997, American journal of ophthalmology.

[32]  Nathan Efron,et al.  Infrared thermography of the tear film in dry eye , 1995, Eye.

[33]  L. Tan,et al.  Accuracy and sensitivity of the dynamic ocular thermography and inter-subjects ocular surface temperature (OST) in Chinese young adults. , 2009, Contact lens & anterior eye : the journal of the British Contact Lens Association.

[34]  U. Pleyer,et al.  Measurement of Dynamic Ocular Surface Temperature in Healthy Subjects Using a New Thermography Device , 2012, Current eye research.