An Overview of Recent Application of Medical Infrared Thermography in Sports Medicine in Austria <s> OPEN ACCESS <s> To evaluate the use of thermography in equine medicine, a three-phase study was conducted. In the first phase, six horses were examined thermographically, before and after exercise, to determine a normal thermal pattern. In the second phase, nine horses with acute and chronic inflammatory processes were examined thermographically. In the third phase, thermography was used to evaluate the effectiveness of anti-inflammatory drugs on chemically induced inflammatory reactions. All normal horses tested had similar infrared emission patterns. There was a high degree of symmetry between right and left and between front (dorsal) to rear (palmar, plantar) in the legs distal to the carpus and the tarsus. The warmer areas of the thermogram tended to follow major vascular structures. The coronary band was the warmest area of the leg. Heat increase due to exercise did not substantially alter the normal thermographic pattern. Use of thermography in clinical cases successfully detected a subluxation of the third lumbar vertebra, a subsolar abscess, alveolar periostitis and abscess, laminitis, serous arthritis of the femoropatellar joint, and tendonitis. Thermography was effective in quantitative and qualitative evaluation of anti-inflammatory compounds in the treatment of chemically induced inflammation. <s> BIB001 </s> An Overview of Recent Application of Medical Infrared Thermography in Sports Medicine in Austria <s> OPEN ACCESS <s> Our recent retrospective analysis of the clinical records of patients who had breast thermography demonstrated that an abnormal thermogram was associated with an increased risk of breast cancer and a poorer prognosis for the breast cancer patient. This study included 100 normal patients, 100 living cancer patients, and 126 deceased cancer patients. Abnormal thermograms included asymmetric focal hot spots, areolar and periareolar heat, diffuse global heat, vessel discrepancy, or thermographic edge sign. Incidence and prognosis were directly related to thermographic results: only 28% of the noncancer patients had an abnormal thermogram, compared to 65% of living cancer patients and 88% of deceased cancer patients. Further studies were undertaken to determine if thermography is an independent prognostic indicator. Comparison to the components of the TNM classification system showed that only clinical size was significantly larger (p = 0.006) in patients with abnormal thermograms. Age, menopausal status, and location of tumor (left or right breast) were not related to thermographic results. Progesterone and estrogen receptor status was determined by both the cytosol-DCC and immunocytochemical methods, and neither receptor status showed any clear relationship to the thermographic results. Prognostic indicators that are known to be related to tumor growth rate were then compared to thermographic results. The concentration of ferritin in the tumor was significantly higher (p = 0.021) in tumors from patients with abnormal thermograms (1512 +/- 2027, n = 50) compared to tumors from patients with normal thermograms (762 +/- 620, n = 21). Both the proportion of cells in DNA synthesis (S-phase) and proliferating (S-phase plus G2M-phase, proliferative index) were significantly higher in patients with abnormal thermograms. The expression of the proliferation-associated tumor antigen Ki-67 was also associated with an abnormal thermogram. The strong relationships of thermographic results with these three growth rate-related prognostic indicators suggest that breast cancer patients with abnormal thermograms have faster-growing tumors that are more likely to have metastasized and to recur with a shorter disease-free interval. <s> BIB002 </s> An Overview of Recent Application of Medical Infrared Thermography in Sports Medicine in Austria <s> OPEN ACCESS <s> Background/aims: The aim was to clarify whether cold fingers before a moderate cold stress test can predict a prolonged delay (more than 20 min) in rewarming, as diagnostic for Raynaud's phenomenon. ::: ::: ::: ::: Methods: A retrospective study was conducted on 71 patients suspected of suffering from Raynaud's phenomenon. The thermal gradient from the metacarpophalangeal joints to the finger tips was calculated for each finger and cold fingers were defined by a temperature difference of more than −0.5°2C. ::: ::: ::: ::: Results: Combining the frequencies of cold fingers with a diagnosis Raynaud's phenomenon resulted in a sensitivity of 78.4%, a specificity of 72.4% and diagnostic accuracy of 74.0%. ::: ::: ::: ::: Conclusion: Based on a positive predictive value of 58.5%, it was concluded, that a prolonged delay of rewarming after a cold stress test cannot be predicted sufficiently by the presence of cold fingers alone, and that a cold stress test is necessary to confirm the diagnosis objectively. <s> BIB003 </s> An Overview of Recent Application of Medical Infrared Thermography in Sports Medicine in Austria <s> OPEN ACCESS <s> Injury patterns in alpine skiing have changed over time as ski, boot, binding, and slope-grooming technologies have evolved. We retrospectively examined injury patterns in alpine skiers over a 9-year period at the Mammoth and June mountains (California) ski area. A total of 24,340 injuries were reported for the 9 seasons studied, and total lift tickets sold numbered 9,201,486. The overall injury rate was 2.6 injuries per 1,000 skier days and increased slowly over the period studied. The knee was the most frequently injured area at 35% of all injuries. Increasing trends (P < .05) were noted for the rates of lower extremity injuries (37%) and knee injuries (45%). A decreasing trend was noted for the rate of lacerations (31% decrease). Slight increases were noted in upper extremity and axial injury rates. Skiing injuries continue to be a worrisome recreational problem despite improvements in ski equipment and slope-grooming techniques. The increasing trend in lower extremity, particularly knee, injury rates highlights the need for continued skier education and equipment innovation. <s> BIB004 </s> An Overview of Recent Application of Medical Infrared Thermography in Sports Medicine in Austria <s> OPEN ACCESS <s> Infrared thermography has become a way to monitor thermal abnormalities present in number of diseases and physical injuries. It is used as an aid to diagnosis, prognosis and therapy. Results obtained using the last generation of equipment (computer assisted thermographic systems, detectors without liquid nitrogen cooling system) and new techniques as dynamic thermography with independent source of driving radiation shows that it is a reliable tool for medical assessment and diagnosis. Most important--the Infrared Thermography is a non-invasive measurement technique, with non-stress for patients. This paper describes Intraoperative Thermoangiography during coronary bypass surgery.© (1999) COPYRIGHT SPIE--The International Society for Optical Engineering. Downloading of the abstract is permitted for personal use only. <s> BIB005 </s> An Overview of Recent Application of Medical Infrared Thermography in Sports Medicine in Austria <s> OPEN ACCESS <s> Equine thermography has increased in popularity recently because of improvements in thermal cameras and advances in image-processing software. The basic principle of thermography involves the transformation of surface heat from an object into a pictorial representation. The colour gradients generated reflect differences in the emitted heat. Variations from normal can be used to detect lameness or regions of inflammation in horses. Units can be so sensitive that flexor tendon injuries can be detected before the horse develops clinical lameness. Thermography has been used to evaluate several different clinical syndromes not only in the diagnosis of inflammation but also to monitor the progression of healing. Thermography has important applications in research for the detection of illegal performance-enhancing procedures at athletic events. <s> BIB006 </s> An Overview of Recent Application of Medical Infrared Thermography in Sports Medicine in Austria <s> OPEN ACCESS <s> Infrared thermography is an imaging modality gaining popularity as a diagnostic aid in the evaluation of equine lameness. Anecdotal reports of skin hyperthermia induced by local anesthesia, detected by thermography, have been made; however, no controlled studies have been reported. The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of perineural anesthesia on infrared thermographic images of the forelimb digits in normal horses. After environmental acclimation, infrared thermographs were made at intervals of 0, 5, 10, 15, 30, and 45 min from administration of mepivacaine hydrochloride or phosphate buffered saline in 6 adult horses with no clinical evidence of abnormality of the forelimb digits. The mean limb surface temperatures were compared by 2-factor ANOVA. Results indicated no significant difference between treatments, time after injection, or an interaction of time and treatment. Infrared thermographic imaging apparently can be performed within 45 min of perineural mepivacaine hydrochloride anesthesia without risk of artifactual changes in limb surface temperature. <s> BIB007
poor perfusion may cause a hypothermic pattern  . There are several applications of MIT in the field of human medicine, such as neurological disorders  , open-heart surgery BIB005 , vascular diseases BIB003 , reflex sympathetic dystrophy syndrome  , urology problems  and mass fever screening  . Much research has been focused on the successful evaluation of breast cancer [9] . According to Ng  breast thermography has achieved an average sensitivity and specificity of 90%. He reported that an abnormal breast thermogram is a significant biological marker for breast cancer. One possible explanation is that increased blood flow due to the vascular proliferation that results from angiogenesis is associated with tumors BIB002 . Reduced skin temperature has also been implicated in musculoskeletal disorder (MSD). In fact, a cold skin pattern around ankle sprains indicates a poor prognosis and a long recovery time  . Infrared sensor technology also contributes to the field of injury management in athletic animals BIB001  BIB006 BIB007 . Anatomical and physiological similarities between animals and humans may imply that modern infrared sensor technology can provide significant information for the functional management of injuries in human athletes. However, there is scant scientific evidence of its successful application in the field of human sports medicine. High performance training pushes the locomotor system to the edge of its anatomical and physiological limits. The knee is a weak link and is the most frequently affected joint in sports. Knee injuries are common in skiing and sports that involve jumping and abrupt direction changes BIB004 . Current trends indicate that in Austria, one of the top ski countries, the number of participants in competitive alpine skiing is greatly increasing, triggering a proliferation of knee injuries  . The incidence of long-term effects, such as osteoarthritis, are alarming. These injuries usually involve a long, costly rehabilitation period and are often career-ending for athletes. The need for further research in the field of injury prevention and management is crucial to counteract severe skiing injuries.