Facial thermal imaging : a systematic review with guidelines and measurement uncertainty estimation

Stanić, Valentina (author), Geršak, Gregor (author)

The development of thermal imaging cameras has led to their widespread use, including for measuring facial skin temperature. However, the measurement protocol is not standardised, resulting in inaccurate and unreliable measurements. This systematic review of 315 papers selected according to the PRISMA guidelines aims to address this issue by reviewing how the papers reported key measurement parameters (type of thermal imaging camera, emissivity coefficient, measurement distance, ambient conditions, length of acclimatisation period) and how they analyse the thermograms. To make facial temperature measurements comparable within and between studies, we have proposed guidelines for accurate and reliable measurements and estimated measurement uncertainty for facial thermography as a result of this systematic review. Thus, a threshold of at least 0.3 °C is suggested to achieve a metrologically significant difference between experimental conditions or spatial or temporal points.

• Language: English
• Keywords: thermal imaging, infrared camera, face, psychophysiology, systematic review, measurement uncertainty
• Work type: Article
• Typology: 1.02 - Review Article
• Organization: FE - Faculty of Electrical Engineering
• Publication status: Published
• Publication version: Version of Record
• Year: 2025
• Number of pages: 35 str.
• Numbering: Vol. 242, pt. B, art. 115879
• PID: 20.500.12556/RUL-164373
• UDC: 621.317
• ISSN on article: 1873-412X
• DOI: 10.1016/j.measurement.2024.115879
• COBISS.SI-ID: 211720707
• Publication date in RUL: 23.10.2024

Record is a part of a journal

• Title: Measurement
• Publisher: Elsevier, International Measurement Confederation
• ISSN: 1873-412X
• COBISS.SI-ID: 23272709

Licences

• License: CC BY 4.0, Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International
• Link: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
• Description: This is the standard Creative Commons license that gives others maximum freedom to do what they want with the work as long as they credit the author.

Secondary language

• Language: Slovenian
• Keywords: termovizija, termovizijska kamera, obraz, psihofiziologija, sistematični pregled, merilna negotovost

Projects

• Funder: ARIS - Slovenian Research and Innovation Agency
• Project number: P2-0225
• Name: Metrologija in kakovost