Thermographic Characteristics of Sore Throat by Thermographic Camera (thermography)

Thermographic cameras are used to determine temperature and temperature differences. Attempts have been made to use the thermographic camera as a diagnostic tool in clinical practice. Thermographic cameras have been approved by the FDA in the diagnosis of breast cancer. The camera absorbs infrared radiation which is discharged from the tissue and than translates it to a digital data or a photograph. The camera does not radiate and direct contact with the patient is not needed. The safety is similar to a regular optic camera. No study on thermographic characteristics of inflammation of organs has been published. The purpose of this study is to demonstrate and document these characteristics of inflammation. The correlation between the thermographic imaging and the clinical diagnosis, using routine methods, will be analyzed. The differences of thermographic imaging between an inflamed organ of a subject to a non inflamed same organ of a normal control will also be analyzed. The management of the patient will be by standard practice and will not be influenced by the thermographic camera image and the study outcome.

Study Overview

• Status: Unknown
• Conditions: Fever; Sore Throat
• Intervention / Treatment: Device: Thermal camera by Flir -HM series.

Detailed Description

Patients aged between 5 years and 18 years, who attend the primary health clinic for medical treatment with a complaint of only sore throat and fever will be offered to participate in the study and have a thermal camera photo of the tonsils. The study group will consist of 100 patients. Fifty patients will be enrolled who present with sore throat and another 50 patients will be enrolled who present to the clinic for any febrile condition other than a sore throat. A parent will sign consent after the parent and child have received an explanation about the study. The patient will be photographed twice by directing the camera externally to each tonsil from below the mandibular angle. The photograph will be saved in the camera and the investigator will not be able to see the photo. The number of the photograph will be listed with the patient name. The investigator will keep the list and only he will have access to the clinical data. Thereafter a standard clinical examination will be performed and all the patients will receive standard medical treatment irrespective of their participation in the study. The description of the tonsils and the pharynx will be recorded in the patient's electronic medical file and will consist of the following information (one or more of the following options): normal tonsils and pharynx, redness of tonsils and/or pharynx, exudates on tonsils, petechiae of the palate. Patients who will not have the full description as described above will be excluded from analysis from the study. The data will be analyzed descriptively for a correlation between the clinical findings and the thermal photograph

• Study Type: Interventional
• Enrollment (Anticipated): 100
• Phase: Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

Study Locations

• Israel
  • Tel Aviv, Israel
    • Primary Care Clinic of Clalit Health Services

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

• Ages Eligible for Study: 5 years to 18 years (Child, Adult)
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: Yes
• Genders Eligible for Study: All

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

1. Patients aged between 5 years and 18 years who attend the primary health clinic for medical treatment with a complaint of sore throat and fever
2. The control group will consist of patients with fever aged between 5 years and 18 years who attend the primary health clinic for medical treatment complaint other than sore throat

Exclusion Criteria:

1. Patients who are already treated with antibiotics

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

Design Details

• Primary Purpose: Diagnostic
• Allocation: N/A
• Interventional Model: Single Group Assignment
• Masking: Single

Number of Arms

1

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm	Intervention / Treatment
Experimental: Thermal camera by Flir HM series; all patients in both study and control groups will undergo thermal camera photo of the tonsils by Flir HM series	Device: Thermal camera by Flir -HM series.; The patient will be photographed twice by directing the camera externally to each tonsil from below the mandibular angle

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Time Frame
Correlation between the symptoms of sore throat and fever and the temperature of the tonsils as measured by the thermal photograph.	one day

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Correlation between clinical diagnosis of tonsillitis and thermal camera photo	Correlation between tonsillitis characterized by redness of tonsils and/or pharynx, exudates on tonsils, petechiae of the palate and temperature of the tonsils as measured by the thermal camera photo.	one day

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: Doron Carmi
• Investigators: Principal Investigator: Doron Carmi, MD, Clalit health services

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start: September 1, 2016
• Primary Completion (Anticipated): December 1, 2018
• Study Completion (Anticipated): December 1, 2018

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: January 1, 2013
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: January 31, 2013
• First Posted (Estimate): February 1, 2013

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (Estimate): January 27, 2016
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: January 26, 2016
• Last Verified: January 1, 2016

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Keywords: sore throat; thermal camera photo; normal tonsils and pharynx; redness of tonsils and/or pharynx; exudates on tonsils; petechiae of the palate
• Additional Relevant MeSH Terms: Infections; Respiratory Tract Infections; Respiratory Tract Diseases; Pharyngeal Diseases; Stomatognathic Diseases; Otorhinolaryngologic Diseases; Pharyngitis
• Other Study ID Numbers: COM120017CTIL