Method and apparatus of monitoring foot inflammation

摘要

A method and apparatus for evaluating foot inflammation each uses at least one temperature detection modality to form a first thermogram and a second thermogram of the sole of at least one foot. Each thermogram forms a substantially continuous set of two-dimensional temperature values across the sole of the (at least one) foot. The thermograms have features; namely, the first thermogram has first features and the second thermogram has second features. The method and apparatus thus control a device to apply at least one transformation to the first and second thermograms to align the first features with corresponding second features, and determine, at any thermogram location, if at least one of the thermograms presents one of a plurality of patterns indicative of inflammation. Finally, the method and apparatus each produce output information indicating the result of the determination of whether the thermograms present one of the plurality of patterns.

主权项

1. A method of evaluating foot inflammation of at least one foot of a patient, each foot having a sole, the method comprising:
providing one or more processors; generating, using at least one of the one or more processors and temperature data produced by at least one temperature detection modality, a first thermogram and a separate second thermogram of a sole of each of the at least one foot, each thermogram forming a spatially continuous data set of two-dimensional temperature values across a sole of each of the at least one foot, the first thermogram having first features, the second thermogram having second features; controlling at least one of the one or more processors to apply at least one transformation to one or both of the first and second thermograms to align the first features of the first thermogram with corresponding second features of the second thermogram; determining, by at least one of the one or more processors, at any thermogram location, if at least one of the thermograms presents one of a plurality of patterns indicative of foot inflammation; and producing, by at least one of the one or more processors, output information indicating a result of the determination of whether the thermograms present one of the plurality of patterns.