Thermography and rasterstereography as a combined infrared method to assess the posture of healthy individuals

Thermography and rasterstereography as a combined infrared method to assess the posture of healthy individuals

Roggio, F., Petrigna, L., Trovato, B. et al.

 Ski Rep 13, 4263 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-023-31491-1

System used: Spine3D

The demand for noninvasive methods to assess postural defects is increasing because back alterations are more common among the healthy population. We proposed a combined infrared method of rasterstereography and thermography to assess the back without harmful effects. This study aims to provide reference data on rasterstereography and thermography to evaluate the back of a healthy population and to further study the correlation between these two methods. This cross-sectional research involved 175 healthy individuals (85 males and 90 females) aged 22 to 35 years. There is a large Cohen’s d effect size in the cervical depth (males = 43.77 ± 10.96 mm vs. females = 34.29 ± 7.04 mm, d = 1.03), and in the lumbar lordosis angle (males = 37.69 ± 8.89° vs. females = 46.49 ± 8.25°, d = − 1.03). The back temperature was different for gender in the cervical area (males = 33.83 ± 0.63 °C vs. females = 34.26 ± 0.84 °C, d = − 0.58) and dorsal area (males = 33.13 ± 0.71 °C vs. females = 33.59 ± 0.97 °C, d = − 0.55). Furthermore, in the female group there was a moderate correlation of lumbar temperature with lumbar lordosis angle (r = − 0.50) and dorsal temperature with shoulders torsion (r = 0.43). Males showed a moderate correlation for vertebral surface rotation RMS with cervical (r = − 0.46), dorsal (r = − 0.60), and lumbar (r = − 0.50) areas and cervical temperature with shoulders obliquity (r = 0.58). These results highlight a possible correlation between rasterstereography and thermography, which may elucidate the underlying mechanics of spinal alterations and thermal muscle response. Our findings may represent reference data for other studies using noninvasive methods to assess postural alterations.

The demand for non-invasive methods to evaluate postural defects is increasing because back disorders are more common in the healthy population. We propose a combined rasterstereography and thermography infrared method to evaluate the back without harmful effects. This study aims to provide reference data on Rasterstereography and thermography to evaluate the back of a healthy population and to further study the correlation between these two methods. This cross-sectional research involved 175 healthy individuals (85 males and 90 females) aged between 22 and 35 years. There is a Cohen large D effect size in cervical depth (males = 43.77 ± 10.96 mm vs. females = 34.29 ± 7.04 mm, d = 1.03) and lumbar angle lordosis (males = 37.69 ± 8.89° vs. female = 46.49 ± 8.25°, d = – 1.03). Posterior temperature was different by gender in cervical area (males = 33.83 ± 0.63 °C vs. females = 34.26 ± 0.84 °C, d = – 0.58) and dorsal area (males = 33.13 ± 0.71 °C vs. female = 33.59 ± 0.97 °C, d = – 0.55). Furthermore, in the female group there was a moderate correlation of lumbar temperature with lumbar lordosis angle (r = – 0.50) and back temperature with shoulder torsion (r = 0.43). Males showed moderate correlation for RMS vertebral surface rotation with cervical (r = – 0.46), dorsal (r = – 0.60), and lumbar (r = – 0.50) areas and cervical temperature with obliquity of the shoulders (r = 0.58). These results highlight a possible correlation between Rasterstereography and Thermography, which may elucidate the underlying mechanics of spinal alterations and thermal muscle response. Our results may represent the baseline data for other studies using noninvasive methods to evaluate postural alterations.