The application of infrared imaging to psychological status assessment -a preliminary study

Objective: The aim of this study is to compare a non-contact method of skin surface temperature measurement with traditional biofeedback device of finger temperature with a contact thermistor sensor, to see if these temperature readings from loci of different fingers had the same trends of change. Methods: 24 healthy volunteers (aged 20 to 40 years old) are recruited and divided into two groups. The temperature of right index fingertip of subjects was measured by traditional temperature biofeedback with thermistor sensor gently taped (AT42 Portable TEMP). The left hand was measured simultaneously via Infrared thermal imaging (Avionics TVS-600, Japan). The relationship of temperature change between the tip and lateral side of the same finger, and between the same loci of two different fingers were studied. Results: finger temperatures of different sites have the same trends of change. With current method to fix the probe of temperature biofeedback, there might be unpredictable discrepancy between measured reading and true temperature. Conclusion: the instrumentation of traditional temperature biofeedback needs further improvement.