Evaluation of the female pelvic floor with infrared thermography: a cross sectional study

Abstract

Background: Infrared thermography (IRT) is an easy-to-use, noninvasive and pain-free tool that can be used to evaluate function of the pelvic floor (PF) muscles.

Objective: To analyze vaginal manometry, temperature, and percentage of colors achieved through IRT of the PF muscles at rest and during maximum voluntary contraction. The relationship between PF muscles strength and IRT temperature was also assessed.

Methods: Two-hundred and thirty-one women (mean ± SD age: 58.4±5.9 years) participated in this study. IRT recorded the minimum, average, and maximum temperatures, and the colors of the PF area at rest and during maximum voluntary contraction. The pressure applied during the three maximum voluntary PF contractions was evaluated through vaginal manometry.

Results: The women had a PF average temperature of 36.4 ± 0.8°C. There were no differences in the IRT temperatures between rest and during PF muscles contraction. The percentages of white, red, orange, yellow, green, cyan, and blue colors were different at rest and during contraction. Warm colors became more visible in the center of the image during the PF muscles maximum voluntary contraction. There was a positive correlation between the PF average temperature and PF manometry (r=0.7; p=0.001).

Conclusion: The IRT was not able to detect differences in the temperature of the PF area between at rest and during contraction. However, a strong correlation between PF temperature and vaginal manometry was found.

Keywords: Color; Muscles; Temperature; Women; Women's health.