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Comparison of infrared thermometer with thermocouple for monitoring skin temperature

2000; Lippincott Williams & Wilkins; Volume: 28; Issue: 2 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1097/00003246-200002000-00041

1530-0293

Takashi Matsukawa, Makoto Ozaki, Tomoki Nishiyama, Makoto Imamura, Teruo Kumazawa,

Thermal Regulation in Medicine

Objective: To test the hypothesis that the infrared thermometer (Genius) is comparably useful with thermocouples that are routinely used for skin temperature monitoring. Design: Prospective, controlled, not blinded study. Setting: Operating room of a university hospital. Subjects: Ten healthy male volunteers. Interventions: Volunteers were minimally clothed and were initially warmed by a forced air warmer until they became vasodilated at the finger and the foot for ∼30 mins. Subsequently, they were kept in the room with no blanket. Measurements and Main Results: Skin temperatures were measured continuously with the Mon-a-Therm thermocouple and were also measured with the Genius thermometer just before and after the warming and subsequently every 10 mins for 70 mins. Forearm and finger-tip skin temperatures and skin-surface temperature gradients (from arm to finger and from calf to toe) measured by the Genius thermometer were compared with those measured by the Mon-a-Therm thermocouple using linear regression and Bland and Altman statistics. Forearm temperature and finger-tip temperature ranged from ≈31° to ≈36.5°C (87.8-97.7°F) and ≈22.5° to ≈36°C (72.5-96.8°F), respectively. Gradients (from arm to finger and from calf to toe) ranged from ≈−3° to ≈10°C (26.6-50.0°F) and ≈−3° to ≈11°C (26.6-51.8°F), respectively. Correlations between the temperatures measured by the Genius thermometer and those by the Mon-a-Therm thermocouple were similar and reliable. The correlation coefficients were as follows: 0.78 at forearm, 0.97 at finger-tip, and 0.97 at skin-surface temperature gradients. Conclusions: The infrared thermometer with a special probe is useful to measure the change of skin-surface temperatures and to evaluate the severity of shock in patients.