Intra- and inter-session reliability and repeatability of an infrared thermography device designed for materials to measure skin temperature of the triceps surae muscle tissue of athletes

PeerJ

article

Cesar Calvo-Lobo¹  Marta San-Antolín²  Daniel García-García¹  Ricardo Becerro-de-Bengoa-Vallejo¹  Marta Elena Losa-Iglesias⁴  Julia Cosín-Matamoros¹  Israel Casado-Hernández¹  Eva María Martínez-Jiménez¹  Victoria Mazoteras-Pardo⁵  David Rodríguez-Sanz¹ 

[1]Facultad de Enfermería, Fisioterapia y Podología, Universidad Complutense de Madrid

[2]Departamento de Psicología, Universidad de Valladolid

[3]Escuela de Doctorado, Universidad Europea de Madrid

[4]Facultad de Ciencias de la Salud, Universidad Rey Juan Carlos

[5]Department of Nursing, Physiotherapy and Occupational Therapy, School of Physiotherapy and Nursing, Universidad de Castilla La Mancha

关键词: Lower extremity;    Reproducibility of results;    Data management;    Sports;    Thermosensing;   

DOI  :  10.7717/peerj.15011

学科分类：社会科学、人文和艺术（综合）

来源: Inra

【 摘 要 】

Background Infrared thermography devices have been commonly applied to measure superficial temperature in structural composites and walls. These tools were cheaper than other thermographic devices used to measure superficial human muscle tissue temperature. In addition, infrared thermography has been previously used to assess skin temperature related to muscle tissue conditions in the triceps surae of athletes. Nevertheless, the reliability and repeatability of an infrared thermography device designed for materials, such as the Manual Infrared Camera PCE-TC 30, have yet to be determined to measure skin temperature of the triceps surae muscle tissue of athletes. Objective The purpose was to determine the procedure’s intra- and inter-session reliability and repeatability to determine skin temperature within the Manual Infrared Camera PCE-TC 30 thermography device in the triceps surae muscle tissue of athletes, which was initially designed to measure the superficial temperature of materials. Methods A total of 34 triceps surae muscles were bilaterally assessed from 17 healthy athletes using the Manual Infrared Camera PCE-TC 30 thermography device to determine intra- (at the same day separated by 1 h) and inter-session (at alternate days separated by 48 h) reliability and repeatability of the skin temperature of the soleus, medial and lateral gastrocnemius muscles. The triceps surae complex weas measured by a region of interest of 1 cm2 through five infrared thermography images for each muscle. Statistical analyses comprised intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC), standard error of measurement (SEM), minimum detectable change (MCD), systematic error of measurement, correlation (r), and Bland-Altman plots completed with linear regression models (R2). Results Intra- and inter-session measurements of the proposed infrared thermography procedure showed excellent reliability (ICC(1,2) = 0.968–0.977), measurement errors (SEM = 0.186–0.232 °C; MDC = 0.515–0.643 °C), correlations (r = 0.885–0.953), and did not present significant systematic error of measurements (P 0.05). Adequate agreement between each pair of measurement moments was presented by the Bland-Altman plots according to the limits of agreement and non-significant linear regression models (R2 = 0.000–0.019; P 0.05). Conclusions The proposed procedure to determine skin temperature within the Manual Infrared Camera PCE-TC 30 thermography device presented excellent intra- and inter-session reliability and repeatability in athletes’ triceps surae muscle tissue. Future studies should consider the SEM and MDC of this procedure to measure the skin temperature of soleus, medial, and lateral gastrocnemius muscles to promote triceps surae muscle prevention and recovery in athletes.

【 授权许可】

CC BY