Thermography for the differential diagnosis of vascular malformations.

Leñero-Bardallo, J A; Serrano, C; Acha, B; Pérez-Carrasco, J A; Bernabeu-Wittel, J

Vascular malformations classification may pose a diagnostic challenge for physicians. In the early stages, they are diagnosed clinically mainly by visual inspection. For a deeper analysis, Doppler ultrasonography is the preferred technique to determine the hemodynamic behaviour of the anomaly. However, this imaging modality is not always available and it requires trained operators for acquiring and interpreting the images. In this sense, there is a lack of portable and user-friendly systems that may help physicians in the assessment of vascular malformations. We propose a new diagnostic procedure, more affordable and easy-to-use, based on a portable thermal camera. This technique provides information about temperature, which has been found correlated with the flow rate of the lesion. In our study, more than 60 vascular malformations of previously diagnosed patients were analysed with a thermal camera to classify them into low- and high-flow ones. The data analysis sensitivity and specificity were 1.