Quantitative Radiometric Thermal Analysis of Oral Potentially Malignant Disorders using Portable Infrared Thermography: A Proof-of-Concept Study

Abstract

Oral potentially malignant disorders (OPMDs) require regular clinical follow up because physiological changes may occur before clear morphological progression is evident during routine examination. This study evaluates the feasibility of portable infrared thermography for obtaining quantitative thermal measurements associated with OPMDs. Thermal images were acquired from five subjects, including the three clinically confirmed OPMD cases and two healthy controls using the four standardized imaging views. Radiometric sensor data were converted into calibrated pixel level temperature values using the embedded Planck calibration parameters. Thermal gradient magnitude, bilateral thermal symmetry, oral-reference temperature difference, temperature percentiles, and thermal entropy were then calculated from the resulting temperature maps. Analysis of 26 thermal images showed that the mean thermal gradient obtained from extraoral views provided the clearest separation between the groups. The OPMD group demonstrated a lower mean gradient of 1.146 °C/px compared with 1.361°C/px in controls, with Cliff’s delta of -1.00. one clinically healthy subject also exhibited a thermal profile that differed from the other control across the evaluated features. A visit comparison module was additionally developed to quantify changes between successive examinations. These findings demonstrate the feasibility of calibrated quantitative thermal analysis and support further investigation using larger cohorts, histopathological correlation and prospective longitudinal follow up studies