The role of infrared thermography in thyroid nodule detection and classification: a scoping review.

PURPOSE: To conduct a scoping review to assess the extent and type of evidence on the use of IRT as a diagnostic tool for thyroid nodule detection and classification.

METHODS

This review followed the JBI Scoping Review methodology and included studies involving IRT assessments of the thyroid gland in patients from clinical, academic, or experimental settings. Electronic searches were conducted in PubMed, Embase, Web of Science, Scopus, and Google Scholar.

RESULTS

A total of 28 studies published between 2009 and 2025 were included after screening 2,687 records. Most studies used static IRT (SIRT) or dynamic IRT (DIRT), many of them integrating artificial intelligence (AI) tools. The assessed studies demonstrated temperature differences between malignant nodules, benign nodules, and healthy tissues, particularly under thermal stress. AI classifiers, especially convolutional neural networks (CNN), have demonstrated enhanced diagnostic performance, with reported accuracies reaching up to 98.4%. However, results varied due to differences in imaging protocols, camera resolution, and patient-specific factors such as subcutaneous fat thickness.

CONCLUSION

IRT shows promising potential as an adjunctive diagnostic tool for assessing thyroid nodules, particularly when combined with AI and dynamic protocols. However, standardization and further validation in diverse populations are needed.