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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Med.
Sec. Ophthalmology
Volume 11 - 2024 | doi: 10.3389/fmed.2024.1526165
This article is part of the Research Topic Imaging in the Diagnosis and Treatment of Eye Diseases View all 10 articles

Comparing the corneal temperature of dry eyes with that of normal eyes via high-resolution infrared thermography

Provisionally accepted
Chunbo Wu Chunbo Wu 1Yuanshen Huang Yuanshen Huang 1Banglian Xu Banglian Xu 1Baicheng Li Baicheng Li 1Songlin Zhuang Songlin Zhuang 1Guofan Cao Guofan Cao 2Yan Hu Yan Hu 2Zhensheng Gu Zhensheng Gu 3*
  • 1 University of Shanghai for Science and Technology, Shanghai, China
  • 2 Eye Hospital of Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing, Liaoning Province, China
  • 3 Xinhua Hospital, School of Medicine, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai, Shanghai Municipality, China

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    This study compares the corneal temperature in dry eyes with normal eyes via high-resolution infrared thermography.Methods: A total of 86 participants were enrolled, with 40 and 46 participants in the dry eye disease (DED) and control groups, respectively. All participants underwent non-invasive breakup time (NIBUT) measurement, an Ocular Surface Disease Index (OSDI) questionnaire and ocular thermography.In the DED group, the mean initial central corneal temperature (initial CCT) is 33.25 ± 0.66°C, the tenth-second central corneal temperature (10s-CCT) is 32.47 ± 0.84°C, and the mean change in central corneal temperature measured within 10 s (change in CCT within 10 s) is 0.78 ± 0.30°C. For the controls, the initial CCT, 10s-CCT, and change in CCT within 10 s are 33.14 ± 1.02°C, 32.90 ± 0.99°C, and 0.23 ± 0.20°C, respectively. Except for the initial CCT (p = 0.549), significant differences are observed in the 10s-CCT (p = 0.034) and the change in CCT within 10 s (p < 0.001) between the two groups. The standard deviation of the temperature values within the region of interest (SD of TVs within ROI) on the central cornea is calculated to compare the uniformity of corneal temperature. In the DED group, the mean standard deviation of the initial temperature values within the region of interest (SD of initial TVs within ROI) is similar to that in the control group (0.23 ± 0.07℃ vs. 0.22 ± 0.05℃, p = 0.926). In contrast, the mean standard deviation of the tenth-second temperature values within the region of interest (SD of 10s-TVs within ROI) in the DED group is greater than that in the control group, and there is a significant difference (0.44 ± 0.20℃ vs. 0.35 ± 0.15℃, p = 0.016). In the DED group, the mean change in CCT within 3 s after tear film break-up is significantly greater than that before tear film break-up (0.19 ± 0.08℃ vs. 0.10 ± 0.10℃, p < 0.001).: As the time with eyes open increases, dry eyes present a significantly faster decrease in central corneal temperature (CCT) and a significantly worse uniformity of corneal temperature compared with normal eyes.

    Keywords: Dry eye disease, DED, Ocular surface temperature, Corneal temperature, Ocular thermography, high-resolution infrared thermography

    Received: 11 Nov 2024; Accepted: 18 Dec 2024.

    Copyright: © 2024 Wu, Huang, Xu, Li, Zhuang, Cao, Hu and Gu. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence: Zhensheng Gu, Xinhua Hospital, School of Medicine, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai, 200092, Shanghai Municipality, China

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