Potential of using facial thermal imaging in patient triage of flu-like syndrome during the COVID-19 pandemic crisis
The screening of flu-like syndrome is difficult due to nonspecific symptoms or even oligosymptomatic presentation and became even more complex during the Covid-19 pandemic. However, an efficient screening tool plays an important role in the control of highly contagious diseases, allowing more effici...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , , , , , |
|---|---|
| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Public Library of Science (PLoS)
2023-01-01
|
| Series: | PLoS ONE |
| Online Access: | https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9847904/?tool=EBI |
| _version_ | 1797943911340048384 |
|---|---|
| author | Ana Carolina Makino Antunes Alexandre Aldred Gabriela Pinheiro Tirado Moreno João Alberto de Souza Ribeiro Paulo Eduardo Brandão Gisely Toledo Barone Juliana de Amorin Conselheiro Alessandra C. Goulart Ivan Cesar Desuó Guilherme Gomes |
| author_facet | Ana Carolina Makino Antunes Alexandre Aldred Gabriela Pinheiro Tirado Moreno João Alberto de Souza Ribeiro Paulo Eduardo Brandão Gisely Toledo Barone Juliana de Amorin Conselheiro Alessandra C. Goulart Ivan Cesar Desuó Guilherme Gomes |
| author_sort | Ana Carolina Makino Antunes |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | The screening of flu-like syndrome is difficult due to nonspecific symptoms or even oligosymptomatic presentation and became even more complex during the Covid-19 pandemic. However, an efficient screening tool plays an important role in the control of highly contagious diseases, allowing more efficient medical-epidemiological approaches and rational management of global health resources. Infrared thermography is a technique sensitive to small alterations in the skin temperature which may be related to early signs of inflammation and thus being relevant in the detection of infectious diseases. Thus, the objective of this study was to evaluate the potential of facial thermal profiles as a risk evaluator of symptoms and signs of SARs diseases, using COVID-19 as background disease. A total of 136 patients were inquired about the most common symptoms of COVID-19 infection and were submitted to an infrared image scanning, where the temperatures of 10 parameters from different regions of the face were captured. We used RT-qPCR as the ground truth to compare with the thermal parameters, in order to evaluate the performance of infrared imaging in COVID-19 screening. Only 16% of infected patients had fever at the hospital admission, and most infrared thermal variables presented values of temperature significantly higher in infected patients. The maximum eye temperature (MaxE) showed the highest predictive value at a cut-off of >35.9°C (sn = 71.87%, sp = 86.11%, LR+ = 5.18, LR- = 0.33, AUC = 0.850, p < 0.001). Our predictive model reached an accuracy of 86% for disease detection, indicating that facial infrared thermal scanning, based on the combination of different facial regions and the thermal profile of the face, has potential to act as a more accurate diagnostic support method for early COVID-19 screening, when compared to classical infrared methods, based on a single spot with the maximum skin temperature of the face. |
| first_indexed | 2024-04-10T20:31:36Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-42b040d66020404a9cf1c18f7f85116d |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1932-6203 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-10T20:31:36Z |
| publishDate | 2023-01-01 |
| publisher | Public Library of Science (PLoS) |
| record_format | Article |
| series | PLoS ONE |
| spelling | doaj.art-42b040d66020404a9cf1c18f7f85116d2023-01-25T05:34:02ZengPublic Library of Science (PLoS)PLoS ONE1932-62032023-01-01181Potential of using facial thermal imaging in patient triage of flu-like syndrome during the COVID-19 pandemic crisisAna Carolina Makino AntunesAlexandre AldredGabriela Pinheiro Tirado MorenoJoão Alberto de Souza RibeiroPaulo Eduardo BrandãoGisely Toledo BaroneJuliana de Amorin ConselheiroAlessandra C. GoulartIvan Cesar DesuóGuilherme GomesThe screening of flu-like syndrome is difficult due to nonspecific symptoms or even oligosymptomatic presentation and became even more complex during the Covid-19 pandemic. However, an efficient screening tool plays an important role in the control of highly contagious diseases, allowing more efficient medical-epidemiological approaches and rational management of global health resources. Infrared thermography is a technique sensitive to small alterations in the skin temperature which may be related to early signs of inflammation and thus being relevant in the detection of infectious diseases. Thus, the objective of this study was to evaluate the potential of facial thermal profiles as a risk evaluator of symptoms and signs of SARs diseases, using COVID-19 as background disease. A total of 136 patients were inquired about the most common symptoms of COVID-19 infection and were submitted to an infrared image scanning, where the temperatures of 10 parameters from different regions of the face were captured. We used RT-qPCR as the ground truth to compare with the thermal parameters, in order to evaluate the performance of infrared imaging in COVID-19 screening. Only 16% of infected patients had fever at the hospital admission, and most infrared thermal variables presented values of temperature significantly higher in infected patients. The maximum eye temperature (MaxE) showed the highest predictive value at a cut-off of >35.9°C (sn = 71.87%, sp = 86.11%, LR+ = 5.18, LR- = 0.33, AUC = 0.850, p < 0.001). Our predictive model reached an accuracy of 86% for disease detection, indicating that facial infrared thermal scanning, based on the combination of different facial regions and the thermal profile of the face, has potential to act as a more accurate diagnostic support method for early COVID-19 screening, when compared to classical infrared methods, based on a single spot with the maximum skin temperature of the face.https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9847904/?tool=EBI |
| spellingShingle | Ana Carolina Makino Antunes Alexandre Aldred Gabriela Pinheiro Tirado Moreno João Alberto de Souza Ribeiro Paulo Eduardo Brandão Gisely Toledo Barone Juliana de Amorin Conselheiro Alessandra C. Goulart Ivan Cesar Desuó Guilherme Gomes Potential of using facial thermal imaging in patient triage of flu-like syndrome during the COVID-19 pandemic crisis PLoS ONE |
| title | Potential of using facial thermal imaging in patient triage of flu-like syndrome during the COVID-19 pandemic crisis |
| title_full | Potential of using facial thermal imaging in patient triage of flu-like syndrome during the COVID-19 pandemic crisis |
| title_fullStr | Potential of using facial thermal imaging in patient triage of flu-like syndrome during the COVID-19 pandemic crisis |
| title_full_unstemmed | Potential of using facial thermal imaging in patient triage of flu-like syndrome during the COVID-19 pandemic crisis |
| title_short | Potential of using facial thermal imaging in patient triage of flu-like syndrome during the COVID-19 pandemic crisis |
| title_sort | potential of using facial thermal imaging in patient triage of flu like syndrome during the covid 19 pandemic crisis |
| url | https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9847904/?tool=EBI |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT anacarolinamakinoantunes potentialofusingfacialthermalimaginginpatienttriageofflulikesyndromeduringthecovid19pandemiccrisis AT alexandrealdred potentialofusingfacialthermalimaginginpatienttriageofflulikesyndromeduringthecovid19pandemiccrisis AT gabrielapinheirotiradomoreno potentialofusingfacialthermalimaginginpatienttriageofflulikesyndromeduringthecovid19pandemiccrisis AT joaoalbertodesouzaribeiro potentialofusingfacialthermalimaginginpatienttriageofflulikesyndromeduringthecovid19pandemiccrisis AT pauloeduardobrandao potentialofusingfacialthermalimaginginpatienttriageofflulikesyndromeduringthecovid19pandemiccrisis AT giselytoledobarone potentialofusingfacialthermalimaginginpatienttriageofflulikesyndromeduringthecovid19pandemiccrisis AT julianadeamorinconselheiro potentialofusingfacialthermalimaginginpatienttriageofflulikesyndromeduringthecovid19pandemiccrisis AT alessandracgoulart potentialofusingfacialthermalimaginginpatienttriageofflulikesyndromeduringthecovid19pandemiccrisis AT ivancesardesuo potentialofusingfacialthermalimaginginpatienttriageofflulikesyndromeduringthecovid19pandemiccrisis AT guilhermegomes potentialofusingfacialthermalimaginginpatienttriageofflulikesyndromeduringthecovid19pandemiccrisis |