Infrared thermography for the evaluation of adolescent and juvenile idiopathic scoliosis: A systematic review

Federico Roggio; Luca Petrigna; Veronica Filetti; Ermanno Vitale; Venerando Rapisarda; Giuseppe Musumeci

doi:10.1016/j.jtherbio.2023.103524

Infrared thermography for the evaluation of adolescent and juvenile idiopathic scoliosis: A systematic review

J Therm Biol. 2023 Apr:113:103524. doi: 10.1016/j.jtherbio.2023.103524. Epub 2023 Feb 17.

Authors

Federico Roggio¹, Luca Petrigna², Veronica Filetti², Ermanno Vitale³, Venerando Rapisarda³, Giuseppe Musumeci⁴

Affiliations

¹ Department of Biomedical and Biotechnological Sciences, Section of Anatomy, Histology and Movement Science, School of Medicine, University of Catania, Via S. Sofia n°97, 95123, Catania, Italy; Sport and Exercise Sciences Research Unit, Department of Psychology, Educational Science and Human Movement, University of Palermo, Via Giovanni Pascoli 6, Palermo, 90144, Italy.
² Department of Biomedical and Biotechnological Sciences, Section of Anatomy, Histology and Movement Science, School of Medicine, University of Catania, Via S. Sofia n°97, 95123, Catania, Italy.
³ Department of Clinical and Experimental Medicine, Occupational Medicine, University of Catania, Via Santa Sofia n°78, 95123, Catania, Italy.
⁴ Department of Biomedical and Biotechnological Sciences, Section of Anatomy, Histology and Movement Science, School of Medicine, University of Catania, Via S. Sofia n°97, 95123, Catania, Italy; Research Center on Motor Activities (CRAM), University of Catania, Via S. Sofia n°97, 95123, Catania, Italy; Department of Biology, Sbarro Institute for Cancer Research and Molecular Medicine, College of Science and Technology, Temple University, Philadelphia, 19122, PA, United States. Electronic address: g.musumeci@unict.it.

PMID: 37055128
DOI: 10.1016/j.jtherbio.2023.103524

Abstract

Introduction: Adolescent and Juvenile Idiopathic Scoliosis are a three-dimensional spine deformity characterized by a muscle alteration of the convex and concave sides of the scoliosis, which can be evaluated with different non-invasive and radiation-free methods such as infrared thermography. The objective of the present review is to assess infrared thermography as a potential method to evaluate alterations of the scoliosis.

Materials and methods: A systematic review was performed by collecting articles from PubMed, Web of Science, Scopus, and Google Scholar, published from 1990 to April 2022, on the use of infrared thermography to evaluate adolescent and juvenile idiopathic scoliosis. Relevant data were collected in tables, and the primary outcomes were discussed narratively.

Results: Of the 587 articles selected, only 5 were in line with the objective of this systematic review and were eligible for the inclusion criteria. The findings of the selected articles corroborate the applicability of infrared thermography as an objective method to assess the thermal differences of the muscles between the convex and concave sides of scoliosis. The overall quality of the research was uneven in the reference standard method and assessment of measures.

Conclusion: Infrared thermography is providing promising results to discriminate thermal differences in scoliosis evaluation, albeit there are still some concerns about considering it as a diagnostic tool for scoliosis evaluation because specific recommendations for collecting data are not met. We propose additional recommendations to existing guidelines to perform thermal acquisition to reduce errors and provide the best results to the scientific community.

Keywords: Diagnostic imaging; Infrared thermography; Musculoskeletal disorders; Scoliosis; Screening; Skin temperature.

Publication types

Systematic Review
Review

MeSH terms

Adolescent
Humans
Muscles
Scoliosis* / diagnosis
Thermography / methods