This overview reports 31 studies, which have been performed by the author since 1989 to define the diagnostic value of thermometry and infrared imaging in rehabilitation and rheumatology. Some investigations were designed to characterise either treatment modalities, to clarify the role of temperature measurements as a method for follow-up or treatment monitoring in certain diseases. Thermal imaging has an important impact in assisting the diagnosis of many diseases. A relationship between temperature and clinical signs was established in the following disorders: epicondylitis (correlation of hot spots with pain provocated by firm pressure or resisted movement, and pressure threshold), complex regional pain syndrome (elevated temperature is paralleled by swelling and pain, temperature elevation of the hand after radius fracture after plaster removal predicts typical X-ray changes), thoracic outlet syndrome (high correlation of the region of paresthesia and low temperature readings), muscular inactivity, acute stage of Herpes zoster and Raynaud's phenomenon. Thermal imaging is of little value for the assessment of disability in patients with knee pain and of questionable value in patients with carpal tunnel syndrome or fibromyalgia. Painful tendon insertions or acupuncture points on the auricle cannot be detected by thermal imaging. Temperature signs in epicondylitis, complex regional pain syndrome and thoracic outlet can be successfully used for treatment monitoring. This might be also the case in radiotherapy of malignant breast disease. Infrared thermography, performed immediately after physical exercise can help to identify activated muscles. The value of thermal imaging for monitoring patients with lymphedema remains questionable. Temperature signs in epicondylitis, complex regional pain syndrome and thoracic outlet can be successfully used for treatment monitoring. This might be also the case in radiotherapy of malignant breast disease. Infrared thermography, performed immediately after physical exercise can help to identify activated muscles. The value of thermal imaging for monitoring patients with lymphedema remains questionable. On the other hand as a result of these studies, it became quite clear that the heat regulatory system is connected with other regulation systems of the body. Many of these influence the perfusion of vessels, which can result in temperature changes on the surface. In addition to the circulation system, pain and muscle function are the most important links to temperature regulation. Therefore any change or therapeutic modification of these systems might be seen on thermal images.

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BACKGROUND: Fungal corneal ulcer is one of the major causes of visual impairment worldwide. Treatment of fungal corneal ulcer mainly depends on anti-fungal agents. In the current study, we developed an integrated combination therapy of cryotherapy and anti-fungal agents to facilitate effective treatment of fungal corneal ulcer. METHODS: Rabbit models of cornea infection were established using a combined method of intrastromal injection and keratoplasty. After treatment with cryotherapy and anti-fungal agents, scanning electron microscopy, transmission electron microscopy, and confocal microscopy were conducted to observe changes in microstructure in the rabbits. Periodic acid Schiff A and hematoxylin and eosin staining were used for detection of histological changes. RESULTS: Continuous scanning electron microscopy and transmission electron microscopy observations showed that cryothermal treatment inhibited growth of fungal mycelium by destroying fungal cellular structures. Typical cryotherapy was effective in curing fungal corneal ulcer. Different fungi showed different susceptibilities to treatment. The curative effect of Candida albicans was the best, while that of Aspergillus fumigates was the worst. CONCLUSIONS: Our study provides a novel method of a combination of cryotherapy and anti-fungal agents for treatment of fungal corneal ulcer. This treatment could help facilitate the practice of fungal keratitis treatment in the future.

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Made available in DSpace on 2014-06-11T19:28:33Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 0 Previous issue date: 2010-08-02Bitstream added on 2014-06-13T20:58:26Z : No. of bitstreams: 1 carneiro_mb_me_guara_parcial.pdf: 104531 bytes, checksum: 691fb928eef28bd98838c59c3ab718aa (MD5) Bitstreams deleted on 2015-06-03T11:42:49Z: carneiro_mb_me_guara_parcial.pdf,. Added 1 bitstream(s) on 2015-06-03T11:44:13Z : No. of bitstreams: 1 000623802_20150812.pdf: 93152 bytes, checksum: 56d17042a1e563836e87763295a0d679 (MD5) Bitstreams deleted on 2015-08-13T15:38:50Z: 000623802_20150812.pdf,. Added 1 bitstream(s) on 2015-08-13T15:39:24Z : No. of bitstreams: 1 000623802.pdf: 663569 bytes, checksum: 3d42de694b18c46b6b3a9ca5283417cc (MD5) / Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq) / A idéia da realização deste trabalho e do desenvolvimento do equipamento por ele apresentado surgiu a partir da necessidade de se obter um dispositivo que substituísse a utilização do gelo no tratamento de lesões muscuesqueléticas. Esta terapia, muito utilizada desde tempos passados, vem do conceito da crioterapia, que nada mais é do que o uso do frio para diminuição da temperatura dos tecidos corporais e, conseqüentemente, o tratamento de lesões agudas. A crioterapia tem a função de reduzir a dor e o espasmo muscular e de proporcionar a vasoconstrição, evitando a contaminação dos tecidos ao seu redor. Seu objetivo principal é retirar calor corporal através do resfriamento da região lesionada de modo a influenciar na reação inflamatória aguda. A remoção do calor corporal se dá através da transferência de calor entre o equipamento e o corpo humano, ou seja, pelo o fator de condutividade térmica de cada superfície. Para obtenção de um equipamento que pudesse gerar baixa temperatura, foi abordado o estudo de dispositivos termoelétricos, sobretudo das células Peltier, que são capazes de gerar tanto baixa quanto alta temperatura. Isto se dá através da junção de dois condutores de materiais diferentes alimentados por uma tensão elétrica em circuito fechado. Baseado na necessidade de praticidade, este trabalho apresenta o estudo da crioterapia, de dispositivos termoelétricos, sob o conceito de troca de calor, propondo um equipamento de fácil manejo e serão apresentados os resultados dos testes realizados como o equipamento, suas características e vantagens / The idea of this work carrying out and the equipment development introduced by it arose from the need to obtain a device that replaces the application of ice to treat Musculoskeletal injuries. This therapy, widely used since ancient times, comes from the concept of cryotherapy, which is nothing more than the use of cold to decrease the temperature of body tissues and, consequently, the treatment of acute injuries. Cryotherapy has the function to reduce the pain and muscle spasm and provide vasoconstriction, preventing contamination of surrounding tissues. Its main objective is to remove body heat by cooling of the injured area in order to influence the acute inflammatory reaction. The removal of body heat is through heat transfer between the equipment and the human body, ie, by the factor of thermal conductivity of each surface. To achieve a device that could generate low temperature, was approached the thermoelectric devices study, especially from the Peltier cells, which are able to generate both low as high temperature. This occurs through the junction between two conductors of different materials supplied by a voltage in a closed circuit. Based on the need of convenience, this work presents a cryotherapy study, from thermoelectric devices, under concept of heat exchange, proposing a device easy to handle and will present the results of testing the equipment, its characteristics and advantages

Orientador: Luiz Roberto Carrocci / Banca: João Andrade de Carvalho Junior / Banca: Valesca Alves Correa / Resumo: A idéia da realização deste trabalho e do desenvolvimento do equipamento por ele apresentado surgiu a partir da necessidade de se obter um dispositivo que substituísse a utilização do gelo no tratamento de lesões muscuesqueléticas. Esta terapia, muito utilizada desde tempos passados, vem do conceito da crioterapia, que nada mais é do que o uso do frio para diminuição da temperatura dos tecidos corporais e, conseqüentemente, o tratamento de lesões agudas. A crioterapia tem a função de reduzir a dor e o espasmo muscular e de proporcionar a vasoconstrição, evitando a contaminação dos tecidos ao seu redor. Seu objetivo principal é retirar calor corporal através do resfriamento da região lesionada de modo a influenciar na reação inflamatória aguda. A remoção do calor corporal se dá através da transferência de calor entre o equipamento e o corpo humano, ou seja, pelo o fator de condutividade térmica de cada superfície. Para obtenção de um equipamento que pudesse gerar baixa temperatura, foi abordado o estudo de dispositivos termoelétricos, sobretudo das células Peltier, que são capazes de gerar tanto baixa quanto alta temperatura. Isto se dá através da junção de dois condutores de materiais diferentes alimentados por uma tensão elétrica em circuito fechado. Baseado na necessidade de praticidade, este trabalho apresenta o estudo da crioterapia, de dispositivos termoelétricos, sob o conceito de troca de calor, propondo um equipamento de fácil manejo e serão apresentados os resultados dos testes realizados como o equipamento, suas características e vantagens / Abstract: The idea of this work carrying out and the equipment development introduced by it arose from the need to obtain a device that replaces the application of ice to treat Musculoskeletal injuries. This therapy, widely used since ancient times, comes from the concept of cryotherapy, which is nothing more than the use of cold to decrease the temperature of body tissues and, consequently, the treatment of acute injuries. Cryotherapy has the function to reduce the pain and muscle spasm and provide vasoconstriction, preventing contamination of surrounding tissues. Its main objective is to remove body heat by cooling of the injured area in order to influence the acute inflammatory reaction. The removal of body heat is through heat transfer between the equipment and the human body, ie, by the factor of thermal conductivity of each surface. To achieve a device that could generate low temperature, was approached the thermoelectric devices study, especially from the Peltier cells, which are able to generate both low as high temperature. This occurs through the junction between two conductors of different materials supplied by a voltage in a closed circuit. Based on the need of convenience, this work presents a cryotherapy study, from thermoelectric devices, under concept of heat exchange, proposing a device easy to handle and will present the results of testing the equipment, its characteristics and advantages / Mestre

In recent years, the Game Ready® unit has become a popular cryotherapy modality to treat musculoskeletal injuries. The purpose of this study was to determine which cryotherapy method, wetted ice bag with elastic wrap or Game Ready®, decreases triceps surae intramuscular tissue temperature the most during a 30-minute treatment. The independent variables were the cryotherapy modalities (Game Ready® and wetted ice with elastic wrap) and time (baseline, 10, 20, and 30 minutes). Twenty patients participated in this study. Wetted ice with elastic wrap decreased tissue temperatures significantly greater than Game Ready® at 20 minutes (P = 0.03), and 30 minutes (P = 0.02). Since wetted ice with elastic wrap produced a greater and faster decline in intramuscular tissue temperature compared to Game Ready® on medium pressure, this cryotherapy modality should be utilized in the immediate care phase of the injury repair process.

The purpose of this study is to determine the effect of short-time cold pack cryotherapy in thermoreceptors, therefore, proprioception via deep sensation receptors and sense of balance on ankle joint in healthy adults. In the subject, I refer to other studies using the word proprioception when measuring the cold effect in the balance of the ankle joint. Mainly, cold therapy is affecting to the thermoreceptors but there might be input also to change neuromuscular transmission. The aim of the experimental process is to identify if the cold application on the ankle joint for 20 minutes is decreasing dynamic postural stability and the sense of balance in laboratory environment. Short term cryotherapy effect is measured within 12 participants divided into two groups: control and study group. Both groups went through the first measurement, 20 minutes rest with or without cold application and second measurement directly after the rest period. The dynamic posturography machine SMART Balance Master System (NeuroCom) was used to evaluate somatosensory outcome in the experiment. In the systematic review the previous studies are investigated within same settings as on experimental process, short time cold application on ankle joint measuring the effect on ankle proprioception and joint position sense. The...

PURPOSE/BACKGROUND: Cryotherapy is commonly used in physical therapy with many known benefits; however several investigations have reported decreased functional performance following therapeutic application thereof. The purpose of this study was to determine the effect of cryotherapy applied to the ankle on static and dynamic standing balance. It was hypothesized that balance would be decreased after cryotherapy application. METHODS: Twenty individuals (aged 18 to 40 years) participated in this research project. Each participant was tested under two conditions: an experimental condition where subjects received ice water immersion of the foot and ankle for 15 minutes immediately before balance testing and a control condition completed at room temperature. A Biodex® Balance System was used to quantify balance using anterior/posterior (AP), medial/lateral (ML), and overall balance indices. Paired t-tests were used to compare the balance indices for the two conditions with alpha set at 0.05 a priori. Effect size was also calculated to account for the multiple comparisons made. RESULTS: The static balance indices did not display statistically significant differences between the post-cryotherapy and the control conditions with low effect sizes. Dynamic ML indices significantly increased following the cryotherapy application compared to the control exhibiting a moderate effect size indicating decreased balance following cryotherapy application. No differences were noted between experimental and control conditions for the dynamic AP or overall balance indices while a small effect size was noted for both. CONCLUSIONS: The results suggest that cryotherapy to the ankle has a negative effect on the ML component of dynamic balance following ice water immersion. CLINICAL RELEVANCE: Immediate return to play following cryotherapy application is cautioned given the decreased dynamic ML balance and potential for increased injury risk. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: 3b Case-control study.

No description available.