Hostname: page-component-745bb68f8f-b95js Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2025-01-21T04:59:42.176Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Infrared thermography – a non-invasive tool to evaluate thermal status of neonatal pigs based on surface temperature

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  18 November 2013

T. S. Kammersgaard ,
J. Malmkvist  and
L. J. Pedersen
T. S. Kammersgaard*
Affiliation:
Department of Animal Science, Faculty of Science and Technology, Aarhus University, DK-8830 Tjele, Denmark
J. Malmkvist
Affiliation:
Department of Animal Science, Faculty of Science and Technology, Aarhus University, DK-8830 Tjele, Denmark
L. J. Pedersen
Affiliation:
Department of Animal Science, Faculty of Science and Technology, Aarhus University, DK-8830 Tjele, Denmark
*
†E-mail: trines.kammersgaard@agrsci.dk
Get access

Abstract

Hypothermia is a major cause of mortality in neonatal pigs. Infrared (IR) thermography is a promising non-invasive method to assess thermal status, but has not been evaluated for use on neonatal pigs from birth. The aim of this study was to evaluate the application of IR thermography as a non-invasive tool to estimate body temperature and assess the thermal status in newborn pigs by (1) estimating the relationship between surface temperature and rectal temperature (RT) in neonatal pigs; and (2) estimating the influence of air temperature (AT), birth weight and the time from birth on the relationship between surface temperature and RT. The method was evaluated on the basis of 1695 thermograms and 915 RTs on 91 neonatal pigs born in loose farrowing pens with floor heating at 34°C, and three different ATs (15°C, 20°C and 25°C). Full-body thermograms of the back and the side of the pigs and RT were acquired at 11 sampling times between birth and 48 h after birth. The maximum (IRmax), minimum, average of the full body and ear minimum IR surface temperatures were derived from the thermograms. IRmax had the highest correlation with RT (0.82) and was therefore used in the statistical analysis. The relation of RT by IRmax depended on time at: 0 h (slope: 0.20°C, P<0.001), 0.25 h (slope: 0.42°C, P<0.01), and 0.5 and 1 h after birth (slope: 0.68°C, P<0.001). After the 1st hour (1.5 to 48 h) the relation of RT by IRmax was no longer affected by time (slope: 0.63°C, P<0.001). The agreement between RT and IRmax was improved (P<0.001) after the 1st hour (RT−IRmax 0 to 1 h: 2.02 (1.44)°C; 1.5 to 48 h: 0.95 (0.85)°C). IRmax below 30°C was indicative of piglets having RT<32°C (91.3%). The location of IRmax was identified predominantly at the base of the ears (27/50), other sites in the region of the head (12/50) and the axilla area (8/50). There was a small but significant effect of the angle as IRmax_side–IRmax_back: mean 0.20°C (P<0.001). On the basis of the low difference between IRmax from back and side view thermograms, and the location of IRmax, the angle seems less important and thus the method has the potential to be used without the need for manual restraint of the pigs. On the basis of the results of this study, we propose that IRmax temperature from full-body thermograms has implication as a valid tool to assess the thermal status in neonatal piglets but not as an identical substitute for RT.

Keywords

hypothermiathermographyneonatal pigsrectal temperaturesurface temperatureinfrared
Type
Behaviour, welfare and health
Information
animal , Volume 7 , Issue 12 , December 2013 , pp. 2026 - 2034
Copyright
Copyright © The Animal Consortium 2013 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Andersen, HM-L, Jørgensen, E, Dybkjær, L and Jørgensen, B 2008. The ear skin temperature as an indicator of the thermal comfort of pigs. Applied Animal Behaviour Science 113, 43–56.Google Scholar
Bland, JM and Altman, DG 1986. Statistical methods for assessing agreement between two methods of clinical measurement. Lancet 1, 307–310.Google Scholar
Chung, TH, Jung, WS, Nam, EH, Kim, JH, Park, SH and Hwang, CY 2010. Comparison of rectal and infrared thermometry for obtaining body temperature of gnotobiotic piglets in conventional portable germ free facility. Asian–Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences 23, 1364–1368.Google Scholar
Edwards, SA 2002. Perinatal mortality in the pig: environmental or physiological solutions? Livestock Production Science 78, 3–12.Google Scholar
Herpin, P, Damon, M and Le Dividich, J 2002. Development of thermoregulation and neonatal survival in pigs. Livestock Production Science 78, 25–45.Google Scholar
Herpin, P, Vincent, A and Damon, M 2004. Effect of breed and body weight on thermoregulatory abilities of European (Pietrain×(Landrace×Large White)) and Chinese (Meishan) piglets at birth. Livestock Production Science 88, 17–26.Google Scholar
Hughes, WT, Patterson, GG, Thornton, D, Williams, BJ, Lott, L and Dodge, R 1985. Detection of fever with infrared thermometry: a feasibility study. The Journal of Infectious Diseases 152, 301–306.Google Scholar
Kammersgaard, TS, Pedersen, LJ and Jørgensen, E 2011. Hypothermia in neonatal piglets: interactions and causes of individual differences. Journal of Animal Science 89, 2073–2085.Google Scholar
Kiley, JP, Eldridge, FL and Millhorn, DE 1984. Brain, blood and rectal temperature during whole body cooling. Comparative Biochemistry and Physiology Part A: Physiology 79, 631–634.Google Scholar
Loughmiller, JA, Spire, MF, Dritz, SS, Fenwick, BW, Hosni, MH and Hogge, SB 2001. Relationship between mean body surface temperature measured by use of infrared thermography and ambient temperature in clinically normal pigs and pigs inoculated with Actinobacillus pleuropneumoniae. American Journal of Veterinary Research 62, 676–681.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Loughmiller, JA, Spire, MF, Tokach, MD, Dritz, SS, Nelssen, JL, Goodband, RD and Hogge, SB 2005. An evaluation of differences in mean body surface temperature with infrared thermography in growing pigs fed different dietary energy intake and concentration. Journal of Applied Animal Research 28, 73–80.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Malmkvist, J, Pedersen, LJ, Kammersgaard, TS and Jørgensen, E 2012. Influence of thermal environment on sows around farrowing and during the lactation period. Journal of Animal Science 90, 3186–3199.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Mayfield, SR, Stonestreet, BS, Brubakk, AM, Shaul, PW and Oh, W 1986. Regional blood flow in newborn piglets during environmental cold stress. American Journal of Physiology – Gastrointestinal and Liver Physiology 251, G308–G313.Google Scholar
Mount, LE 1963. Thermal insulation of new-born pig. Journal of Physiology 168, 698–705.Google Scholar
Mount, LE 1966. The effect of wind-speed on heat production in the new-born pig. Experimental Physiology 51, 18–26.Google Scholar
Mount, LE and Stephens, DB 1970. Relation between body size and maximum and minimum metabolic rates in new-born pig. Journal of Physiology 207, 417–427.Google Scholar
Pedersen, LJ, Berg, P, Jørgensen, G and Andersen, IL 2011. Neonatal piglet traits of importance for survival in crates and indoor pens. Journal of Animal Science 89, 1207–1218.Google Scholar
Pedersen, LJ, Malmkvist, J, Kammersgaard, T and Jørgensen, E 2013. Avoiding hypothermia in neonatal pigs: the effect of duration of floor heating at different room temperatures. Journal of Animal Science 91, 425–432.Google Scholar
Pinheiro, JC and Bates, DM 2000. Mixed-effects models in S and S-Plus. Springer-Verlag, New York, LLC, USA.Google Scholar
R Development Core Team 2012. R: a language and environment for statistical computing. Retrieved October 26, 2012, from http://www.R-project.orgGoogle Scholar
Steketee, J 1973. Spectral emissivity of skin and pericardium. Physics in Medicine and Biology 18, 686–694.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Tabuaciri, P, Bunter, K and Graser, H-U 2012. Thermal imaging as a potential tool for identifying piglets at risk. AGBU, Pig Genetics Workshop, October, 24–25, 2012. pp. 23–30.Google Scholar
Thomas, N, Rebekah, G, Sridhar, S, Kumar, M, Kuruvilla, KA and Jana, AK 2012. Can skin temperature replace rectal temperature monitoring in babies undergoing therapeutic hypothermia in low-resource settings? Acta Paediatrica 101, e564–e567.Google Scholar
Traulsen, I, Naunin, K, Muller, K and Krieter, J 2010. Application of infrared thermography to measure body temperature of sows. Zuchtungskunde 82, 437–446.Google Scholar
Tuchscherer, M, Puppe, B, Tuchscherer, A and Tiemann, U 2000. Early identification of neonates at risk: traits of newborn piglets with respect to survival. Theriogenology 54, 371–388.Google Scholar
Weissenböck, NM, Weiss, CM, Schwammer, HM and Kratochvil, H 2010. Thermal windows on the body surface of African elephants (Loxodonta africana) studied by infrared thermography. Journal of Thermal Biology 35, 182–188.Google Scholar
Zinn, KR, Zinn, GM, Jesse, GW, Mayes, HF and Ellersieck, MR 1985. Correlation of noninvasive surface-temperature measurement with rectal temperature in swine. American Journal of Veterinary Research 46, 1372–1374.Google Scholar
Supplementary material: File

Kammersgaard Supplementary Material

Figure S1a and S1b

Download Kammersgaard Supplementary Material(File)
File 767.7 KB