Análise comparativa entre softwares termográficos na aquisição da temperatura facial

Abstract

This study aimed to compare thermal data obtained on the face using FLIR Tools®, FLIR Thermal Studio®, and VisionFy® thermographic software and to assess the temperature difference between facial thermographic images obtained with and without a thermal insulation niche, analyzed by FLIR Thermal Studio®. This is a cross-sectional, analytical, observational, and quantitative study conducted at the Infrared Thermography Laboratory of the Department of Dentistry, Campus I, of the State University of Paraíba (UEPB). A FLIR T650SC Infrared thermal camera with an infrared sensor was used for thermal acquisition to compare the three software programs. Six bilateral facial regions were selected: lateral palpebral commissure, nasolabial fold, and labial commissure. To evaluate the influence of the insulation niche, a device with expanded polystyrene (EPS) plates coated internally and externally with aluminum foil and ethylene vinyl acetate (EVA) was used. The analysis of the influence of thermal insulation was performed in the region of the lateral palpebral commissures. Statistical analyses were performed using Jamovi software (v. 2.5). Data normality was verified by the Shapiro-Wilk test, and these were presented as median and interquartile range. Comparisons between software programs were performed using the Friedman test, followed by the Durbin-Conover post-hoc test, and the Wilcoxon test was used to assess the effect of the thermal insulation niche. The significance level adopted was 5%. Thermographic measurements showed that the use of the thermal insulation niche resulted in a statistically significant increase in temperature in the right lateral palpebral commissure. On the left side, there was no significant difference. The comparison between the software programs showed variations in minimum and maximum temperature values, with VisionFy® presenting higher minimum and slightly lower maximum temperatures in all ROIs. Furthermore, the VisionFy® software recorded higher median values in the left lateral palpebral commissure, nasolabial folds, and left labial commissure, consistent with the other software programs in the right palpebral commissure. The findings of this study demonstrate that both the choice of analysis software and the use of a thermal insulation niche significantly influence the results of facial thermographic measurements.