SynthesisCartilage2021
Infrared Thermography for the Evaluation of Inflammatory and Degenerative Joint Diseases: A Systematic Review.
Synthesis in Cartilage, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 36 papers, 3 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
36 citing papers in PubMed, 3 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 78 citations in OpenAlex.
- Infrared thermography in the detection of arthritis: a systematic review of diagnostic performance compared with joint ultrasound.Rheumatology international · 2026Pooled it
- Intra-articular injections of platelet-rich plasma combined with hyaluronic acid versus platelet-rich plasma alone in the treatment of knee osteoarthritis: a systematic review and meta-analysis.European journal of orthopaedic surgery & traumatology : orthopedie traumatologie · 2025Pooled it
- Thermography in Stroke-A Systematic Review.Medicina (Kaunas, Lithuania) · 2025Pooled it
- Utility of Infrared Thermography in Dogs with Osteoarthritis.Animals : an open access journal from MDPI · 2026Article
- Cutaneous Thermography in Arthropathies: Quantitative Imaging, Machine Learning, and Clinical Translation.Journal of imaging · 2026Review
- Assessing the Health and Functionality of the Microcirculation Using Thermal Imaging.Journal of biophotonics · 2026Review
- Science of heat mapping: Thermography in musculoskeletal disorders.World journal of orthopedics · 2026Review
- Behavioral assessment of pain in rodents: advances from evoked responses to spontaneous states and multimodal approaches.Frontiers in pain research (Lausanne, Switzerland) · 2026Review
- Texture-enhanced thermography for joint inflammation detection using consumer-grade thermal cameras.PloS one · 2026Article
- Comparing thermographic heat signatures with joint inflammation detected by ultrasound at the knees in patients with rheumatoid arthritis.Scientific reports · 2025Article
- A Thermal Imaging Camera as a Diagnostic Tool to Study the Effects of Occlusal Splints on the Elimination of Masticatory Muscle Tension.Dentistry journal · 2025Article
- Clinical Application of Infrared Thermography in Rheumatic Diseases: A Systematic Review.Mediterranean journal of rheumatology · 2025Article
- Thermal profile of the spine for the assessment of bone metabolic disorders.Scientific reports · 2025Article
- Lumbar Temperature Map of Elderly Individuals with Chronic Low Back Pain-An Infrared Thermographic Analysis.Diagnostics (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025Article
- An infrared dataset for partially occluded person detection in complex environment for search and rescue.Scientific data · 2025Article
- Accurate diagnosis and effective treatment of abnormal meridians in erectile dysfunction patients based on infrared thermography: an electrophysiological technique study.International journal of impotence research · 2025Article
- Efficacy and outcomes of surgical staples as an alternative to conventional skin closure in canine mastectomy.PloS one · 2025Article
- Symptoms and joint degeneration correlate with the temperature of osteoarthritic knees: an infrared thermography analysis.International orthopaedics · 2025Article
- Water retention influences thigh skin temperature variation post-exercise: preliminary study of bioimpedance analysis and thermography data.Frontiers in sports and active living · 2025Article
- The Utility of Thermography in Detecting Subclinical Joint Inflammation at the Elbows in Patients With Rheumatoid Arthritis.International journal of rheumatic diseases · 2024Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
6 authors at 3 institutions in 3 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
objectiveInflammation plays a central role in the pathophysiology of rheumatic diseases as well as in osteoarthritis. Temperature, which can be quantified using infrared thermography, provides information about the inflammatory component of joint diseases. This systematic review aims at assessing infrared thermography potential and limitations in these pathologies.
designA systematic review was performed on 3 major databases: PubMed, Cochrane library, and Web of Science, on clinical reports of any level of evidence in English language, published from 1990 to May 2021, with infrared thermography used for diagnosis of osteoarthritis and rheumatic diseases, monitoring disease progression, or response to treatment. Relevant data were extracted, collected in a database, and analyzed for the purpose of this systematic review.
resultsOf 718 screened articles 32 were found to be eligible for inclusion, for a total of 2094 patients. Nine studies reported the application to osteoarthritis, 21 to rheumatic diseases, 2 on both. The publication trend showed an increasing interest in the last decade. Seven studies investigated the correlation of temperature changes with osteoarthritis, 16 with rheumatic diseases, and 2 with both, whereas 2 focused on the pre-post evaluation to investigate treatment results in patients with osteoarthritis and 5 in patients with rheumatic diseases. A correlation was shown between thermal findings and disease presence and stage, as well as the clinical assessment of disease activity and response to treatment, supporting infrared thermography role in the study and management of rheumatic diseases and osteoarthritis.
conclusionsThe systematic literature review showed an increasing interest in this technology, with several applications in different joints affected by inflammatory and degenerative pathologies. Infrared thermography proved to be a simple, accurate, noninvasive, and radiation-free method, which could be used in addition to the currently available tools for screening, diagnosis, monitoring of disease progression, and response to medical treatment.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.