The Use of Infrared Cameras for Detecting Juvenile Idiopathic Arthritis (InfraAJI)

October 29, 2026 updated by: Centre Hospitalier Universitaire, Amiens

Juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA) is the most common chronic rheumatic disease in children, causing persistent joint inflammation, pain, and functional impairment. Current monitoring relies on clinical scores, laboratory markers, and imaging, which are often resource intensive. Infrared thermography (IRT) is a non-invasive, radiation-free method that detects skin temperature changes potentially reflecting joint inflammation. Evidence in pediatric populations is limited, but IRT could provide an objective, reproducible, and child-friendly tool. This study aims to evaluate IRT's diagnostic accuracy by comparing it with clinical scores, laboratory markers, and ultrasound Doppler, to assess its utility as a complementary monitoring tool.

Patients with JIA will undergo clinical examination, routine blood tests, and IRT at baseline, 1 month, and 3 months. Control patients will participate in a single IRT session and, a CRP/ESR/blood test; if a biological workup is already planned as part of their routine care, existing results will be collected, and no additional sampling will be performed. IRT will follow a standardized protocol, including an acclimatization period, predefined positioning, and acquisition of three consecutive images per joint. After completion of the study, JIA patients will resume their standard-of-care follow-up.

Study Overview

Status

Recruiting

Conditions

Intervention / Treatment

Study Type

Interventional

Enrollment (Estimated)

60

Phase

  • Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

This section provides the contact details for those conducting the study, and information on where this study is being conducted.

Study Contact

Study Locations

  • France
      • Amiens, France, 80480
        • Recruiting
        • CHRU Amiens
        • Contact:
        • Sub-Investigator:
          • Maud ULLMO ULLMO, MD

Participation Criteria

Researchers look for people who fit a certain description, called eligibility criteria. Some examples of these criteria are a person's general health condition or prior treatments.

Eligibility Criteria

Ages Eligible for Study

2 years to 16 years (Child)

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

No

Genders Eligible for Study

All

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  • children aged 2-16 years with clinically suspected arthritis affecting the knee, ankle, wrist, or hand, irrespective of disease stage,
  • control group : children with non-inflammatory conditions and no history of autoimmune or inflammatory disease.

Exclusion Criteria:

  • other inflammatory or non-inflammatory diseases or recent trauma/surgery explaining joint symptoms,
  • local skin conditions interfering with infrared imaging, and treatments or comorbidities likely to alter joint or body temperature.

Study Plan

This section provides details of the study plan, including how the study is designed and what the study is measuring.

How is the study designed?

Design Details

  • Primary Purpose: Screening
  • Allocation: Non-Randomized
  • Interventional Model: Parallel Assignment
  • Masking: None (Open Label)

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm
Intervention / Treatment
Experimental: Patients with JIA
Other: standardized evaluation

Patients with JIA will undergo a standardized evaluation including a clinical joint examination, routine blood tests (CRP, NFS, ionogram, liver function, coagulation), and IRT of selected joints
Active Comparator: Control patients
Other: single IRT session and a minimal blood test

Control patients will undergo a single IRT session and a minimal blood test (CRP, ESP, blood count). IRT will be performed under controlled conditions with a defined joint positioning, 15-30 minutes of acclimatization, and acquisition of three consecutive images per joint.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
variation of IRT measure between both groups
Time Frame: at baseline

variation of IRT measure between both groups
at baseline
variation of IRT measure between both groups
Time Frame: at 1 month

variation of IRT measure between both groups
at 1 month
variation of IRT measure between both groups
Time Frame: at 3 months

variation of IRT measure between both groups
at 3 months

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
longitudinal changes in thermographic measurements
Time Frame: at 3 months

longitudinal changes in thermographic measurements by comparing temperature differences (ΔT) between baseline (D0) and 3 months
at 3 months
correlation of longitudinal changes in thermographic measurements with clinical parameters
Time Frame: at 3 months
at 3 months
correlation of longitudinal changes in thermographic measurements with functional parameters
Time Frame: at 3 months
at 3 months
correlation of longitudinal changes in thermographic measurements with biological parameters
Time Frame: at 3 months
at 3 months
correlation of diagnostic performance of IRT with clinical examination
Time Frame: at 3 months
at 3 months
correlation of diagnostic performance of IRT with ultrasounds
Time Frame: at 3 months
at 3 months
correlation of diagnostic performance of IRT with MRI
Time Frame: at 3 months
at 3 months
reproducibility of IRT measurements
Time Frame: at 3 months
at 3 months

Collaborators and Investigators

This is where you will find people and organizations involved with this study.

Sponsor

Centre Hospitalier Universitaire, Amiens

Study record dates

These dates track the progress of study record and summary results submissions to ClinicalTrials.gov. Study records and reported results are reviewed by the National Library of Medicine (NLM) to make sure they meet specific quality control standards before being posted on the public website.

Study Major Dates

Study Start (Actual)

August 24, 2026

Primary Completion (Estimated)

August 1, 2028

Study Completion (Estimated)

October 1, 2028

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

October 13, 2026

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

October 29, 2026

First Posted (Actual)

November 3, 2026

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Actual)

November 3, 2026

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

October 29, 2026

Last Verified

October 1, 2026

More Information

Terms related to this study

Keywords

Additional Relevant MeSH Terms

Other Study ID Numbers

  • PI2026_843_0096

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?

NO

Drug and device information, study documents

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product

No

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product

No

This information was retrieved directly from the website clinicaltrials.gov without any changes. If you have any requests to change, remove or update your study details, please contact register@clinicaltrials.gov. As soon as a change is implemented on clinicaltrials.gov, this will be updated automatically on our website as well.

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