Elsevier

The Journal of Pediatrics

Volume 161, Issue 5, November 2012, Pages 892-898
The Journal of Pediatrics

Original Article
Thermal Imaging to Assess Age-Related Changes of Skin Temperature within the Supraclavicular Region Co-Locating with Brown Adipose Tissue in Healthy Children

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jpeds.2012.04.056Get rights and content

Objective

To establish the feasibility of infrared thermal imaging as a reproducible, noninvasive method for assessing changes in skin temperature within the supraclavicular region in vivo.

Study design

Thermal imaging was used to assess the effect of a standard cool challenge (by placement of the participant's feet or hand in water at 20°C) on the temperature of the supraclavicular region in healthy volunteer participants of normal body mass index in 3 age groups, 3-8, 13-18, and 35-58 years of age.

Results

We demonstrated a highly localized increase in temperature within the supraclavicular region together with a significant age-related decline under both baseline and stimulated conditions.

Conclusion

Thermogenesis within the supraclavicular region can be readily quantified by thermal imaging. This noninvasive imaging technique now has the potential to be used to assess brown adipose tissue function alone, or in combination with other techniques, in order to determine the roles of thermogenesis in energy balance and, therefore, obesity prevention.

Section snippets

Methods

All studies were undertaken in healthy volunteers who were at least 1 hour postprandial; had remained sedentary during this period; had not consumed any caffeine, drugs, or alcohol; and were maintained in a room of constant temperature (19°-21°C). Informed written consent was obtained from all participants and/or their parent/carer, in the case of children. The study was performed with local institutional ethics committee approval.

Each subject was in a relaxed “steady-state” within a familiar

Results

The time course of the thermal response to placing 1 hand in cold water was similar for all subjects and peaked within 5 minutes of the challenge (Figure 1, B). The anatomic site in which the increase in temperature was recorded is shown in Figures 2 and 3, indicating that the hottest site measured by thermal imaging was similar to that previously established to be BAT on PET/CT.16 Furthermore, Figure 3 demonstrates the position of this region in relation to the visible surface anatomy. The

Discussion

We have demonstrated a consistent, and highly localized, increase in local temperature within the supraclavicular region that directly corresponds to the main site of BAT, previously established from PET/CT scans and biopsy studies,1, 2, 3, 14 although this remains to be correlated directly with tissue biopsy and simultaneous PET/CT. The thermogenic response in this region, indicative of nonshivering thermogenesis, occurred rapidly (ie, within 5 minutes of any thermal challenge), which is in

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    Funded in part by the Nottingham University Hospital's Charity. The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

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