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Infrared Thermal Imaging to Collect Quantitative Surface Temperatures From Mice In Unilateral Limb Heating Study
Author(s) -
Tamski Holly,
Serrat Maria
Publication year - 2015
Publication title -
the faseb journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.709
H-Index - 277
eISSN - 1530-6860
pISSN - 0892-6638
DOI - 10.1096/fasebj.29.1_supplement.869.2
Subject(s) - thermography , hindlimb , medicine , lower limb , heat generation , biomedical engineering , infrared , surgery , anatomy , physics , optics , thermodynamics
Infrared thermal imaging is a useful strategy for generating temperature data in biological research. The noninvasive approach enables surface temperature measurements that are more accurate than standard thermocouple probes. Our lab developed a unilateral heating model to induce limb elongation in growing mice. We have shown that targeted heating for only 40 minutes per day enhances limb lengthening on the heat‐treated side. The heat‐treated hindlimb was 37% warmer (11C) than the non‐treated limb during treatments. In this study we used thermal imaging to determine the extent to which heat is retained post‐treatment. We tested the hypothesis that a temperature differential would persist for at least 60 minutes post‐heating. In a pilot study, we captured thermal images of 5‐week old female mice (N=6) at 30‐ and 60‐minute time points after a single initial heating session. Conscious mice were briefly restrained to minimally disturb their physiology. Preliminary thermography data for N= 3 mice showed the heat‐treated limb remained 3.3% warmer (0.8C) than the non‐treated limb at 30 minutes, and 1.5% warmer (0.6C) at 60 minutes. Our ongoing work examines whether temperatures remain permanently elevated after multiple days of heating. These results will be important for understanding the impact of heat therapy by quantifying the extended period in which the limbs maintain warmer temperatures after daily treatments. Supported by ASBMR GAP, WV‐NASA, UK‐CCTS (NIH UL1TR000117), and NIH/NIAMS R15AR067451‐01