FLIR vs SEEK in Biomedical Applications of Infrared Thermography

Abstract

This article aims to compare the results of two different infrared cameras through revealing the irregular temperature distribution on an injured toe. Since the inhomogeneous body temperature is the key indicator of severe injuries, wounds, and illnesses, infrared thermography is the strongest method among other conventional methods to map the skin temperature variations. The current utility of infrared cameras in biomedical applications is also presented to comprehend the relationship between the nature of thermal radiation and human body temperature. In the article, the presented biomedical applications include skin cancer screening, wound detection in a diabetic foot, muscle activation assessment during an exercise, or thermal mapping of healthy human bodies. Along with the developments in infrared thermography, this article focuses on analyzing temperature distribution on the injured toe of a subject with two different smartphone-based infrared camera models namely FLIR One and SEEK Compact Pro. In addition, the results obtained from the presented infrared camera models are compared regarding to the thermal images of the injured toe.