Incurring high economic cost due to medical imaging modalities, there is a need for a low-cost, on site, diagnostic screening tool for the early detection of Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI). We hypothesize that patients with TBI will exhibit temporal and spatial gradient dynamics in the thermal signature on the surface of the skin, and that these dynamics reflect the inflammatory process. Hence, we implemented far-infrared (FIR) thermography using a blunt TBI rat model to analyze changes in the external, surface temperature gradient as an indication of internal inflammation. Results show a consistent increase in average surface temperature after 0.5 days of recovery post-impact. The trend in average surface temperature decreases after 1 day of recovery with a continual decline observed after a 4-day recovery. After 7 days of recovery, the average surface temperature begins to increase with a substantial surge seen 14 days post-impact. The trend appears to correlate well with the inflammatory process.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:MSSTATE/oai:scholarsjunction.msstate.edu:td-5914 |
| Date | 08 December 2017 |
| Creators | Jensen, Sonja Anne |
| Publisher | Scholars Junction |
| Source Sets | Mississippi State University |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | text |
| Format | application/pdf |
| Source | Theses and Dissertations |
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