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© 2025 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). Notwithstanding the ProQuest Terms and Conditions, you may use this content in accordance with the terms of the License.

Abstract

In this preliminary study, the thermoregulatory response in individuals diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease was investigated by infrared thermography. Parkinson’s disease is a complex neurodegenerative disorder primarily known for motor impairments, significantly reducing the quality of life of affected people. However, in most cases, such disease is accompanied or preceded by non-motor symptoms, including autonomic dysfunction. As in the case of neurovegetative dysautonomia, this dysfunction involves a malfunction of the autonomic nervous system, which also plays a key role in thermoregulation. In general, such conditions are not always easy to detect; a valid method could be represented by the vasomotor response of the skin to cold stimuli. In this context, infrared thermography can provide insights into the thermoregulatory patterns associated with autonomic dysfunction, representing a valuable tool for non-invasive assessment of Parkinson’s research. Early biomarkers of the disease can be obtained through changes in skin temperature, allowing for timely intervention and management. The study was conducted on a cohort of 16 subjects (8 patients with Parkinson’s disease and 8 healthy controls), who were monitored with infrared images captured from their hands, following a specific protocol established by a preliminary analysis. Experimental results revealed that thermography can detect focal points and regions exhibiting either hyper- or hypothermia across the skin surface and muscular regions. This capability allows for extracting and categorizing precise medical data, which could inform future research aimed at identifying early markers of the disease. However, as this is a preliminary observational study, no diagnostic claims are made, and further investigations on larger cohorts with controlled comorbidities are needed.

Details

Title
InfraRed Thermographic Measurements in Parkinson’s Disease Subjects: Preliminary Results
Author
Cannuli Antonio 1   VIAFID ORCID Logo  ; Freni Fabrizio 1   VIAFID ORCID Logo  ; Quattrocchi Antonino 1   VIAFID ORCID Logo  ; Terranova, Carmen 2   VIAFID ORCID Logo  ; Venuto, Andrea 1 ; Montanini, Roberto 1   VIAFID ORCID Logo 

 Department of Engineering, University of Messina, C.da di Dio, 98166 Messina, Italy; [email protected] (F.F.); [email protected] (A.Q.); [email protected] (A.V.); [email protected] (R.M.) 
 Department of Clinical and Experimental Medicine, University of Messina, Via Consolare Valeria, 1, 98125 Messina, Italy; [email protected] 
First page
5243
Publication year
2025
Publication date
2025
Publisher
MDPI AG
e-ISSN
14248220
Source type
Scholarly Journal
Language of publication
English
ProQuest document ID
3249713930
Copyright
© 2025 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). Notwithstanding the ProQuest Terms and Conditions, you may use this content in accordance with the terms of the License.