Foot Temperature Measurement in People With Diabetes: Validation of a Non-Contact Thermal Device.

BACKGROUND

Foot temperature monitoring can prevent diabetic foot ulceration (DFU). This technical report determined the validity of the Feetsee device (InvCam) in measuring temperature differences between feet compared with current reference standard: FlirA615, with Food and Drug Administration-approved TotalVision software (RefCam).

METHODS

Measurements were taken in 107 participants (mean age: 48 years; 49% female) across three groups: people with diabetes and active foot ulcer (DFU, n = 38; 57 ± 12.2 years), diabetes without ulcers (diabetes mellitus DM, n = 35; 51.5 ± 16.3 years), and healthy young controls without diabetes (C, n = 34; 34.2 ± 10.7 years).

RESULTS

Strong agreement was shown in foot temperature measurements between the devices with no systematic bias, an intraclass correlation coefficient of 0.95 and typical error of 0.31 deg.

CONCLUSIONS

The InvCam system demonstrated validity for foot temperature measurement compared with the current reference standard and offers the advantage over current systems of being non-contact, eliminating the risk of infection and cross-contamination.