{
  "abstract": "This pilot study evaluates the feasibility of artificial intelligence (AI)-assisted analysis of smartphone-based thermal imaging (SBTI) for perfusion assessment in pedicled facial, head and neck flaps. Because SBTI provides only false-color, non-radiometric thermal maps, ΔT-based grading relies on subjective human interpretation. We therefore investigate whether AI-derived perfusion probability maps were explored in relation to this manually generated proxy reference. Twenty-six patients undergoing reconstruction with pedicled skin flaps were examined with SBTI at four perioperative timepoints. ΔT-values were visually extracted from the FLIR color scale across predefined flap zones and translated into a five-grade perfusion score. A fine-tuned ResNet-50 model generated image-level probabilistic classification outputs regarding thermal similarity to patterns labeled as perfused versus non-perfused and uncertainty metrics. Analyses focused on T3 (end of surgery). Thermal patterns varied substantially by flap type, thickness, and anatomical region. Random-pattern glabellar, nasal, and alar flaps showed physiologically lower surface temperatures and correspondingly reduced ΔT- and AI-derived prediction probabilities despite uneventful healing. No statistically significant correlation was observed between AI-derived perfusion probabilities and manually derived ΔT grades. AI-assisted SBTI is technically feasible but did not demonstrate meaningful quantitative agreement with manually derived ΔT-based grading in this small exploratory cohort. The findings primarily highlight the methodological limitations of false-color thermal interpretation and the need for radiometric imaging, validated perfusion references, and larger anatomically stratified datasets.",
  "abstract_shown": true,
  "affiliations": [
    "Department of Otorhinolaryngology, Head and Neck Surgery, University Hospital Augsburg, Sauerbruchstraße 6, Augsburg, 86179, Germany.",
    "Department of Otorhinolaryngology, University of Heidelberg, Heidelberg, Germany.",
    "Department for Otorhinolaryngology, Head and Neck, Plastic Operations, SLK Kliniken, Heilbronn, Germany.",
    "Chair of Information Infrastructures, School of Computation, Information and Technology, Technical University of Munich, Heilbronn, Germany.",
    "Tongji University, Shanghai, China."
  ],
  "article_type": "research article",
  "arxiv": null,
  "author_total": 6,
  "authors": [
    {
      "affs": [
        0,
        1
      ],
      "name": "Fiedler Ls"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        2
      ],
      "name": "Veitinger A"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        3
      ],
      "name": "Leiser F"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        3
      ],
      "name": "Ness N"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        4
      ],
      "name": "Thiebes S"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        3
      ],
      "name": "Sunyaev A"
    }
  ],
  "bibtex": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/2yf88qdewc2hw.bib",
  "cited_by": 0,
  "doi": "10.1016/j.jpra.2026.10.016",
  "fulltext_url": "https://europepmc.org/articles/PMC13740868",
  "id": "2yf88qdewc2hw",
  "issns": [
    "2352-5878"
  ],
  "landing_url": "https://europepmc.org/article/MED/42997025",
  "language": "eng",
  "licence": "CC-BY",
  "licence_label": "CC BY",
  "licence_source": "article",
  "licence_url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/",
  "metadata_licence": null,
  "native_subjects": [
    [
      "openalex",
      "2741|Infrared Thermography in Medicine"
    ]
  ],
  "openalex": "W7223154480",
  "pdf_url": "https://europepmc.org/articles/PMC13740868?pdf=render",
  "pmcid": "PMC13740868",
  "pmid": "42997025",
  "published": "2026-10-21",
  "publisher": null,
  "ris": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/2yf88qdewc2hw.ris",
  "sources": [
    {
      "first_seen": "2026-11-09T15:20:41Z",
      "native_id": "MED:42997025",
      "source": "europepmc",
      "url": "https://europepmc.org/article/MED/42997025"
    }
  ],
  "subjects": [
    {
      "field": "medicine",
      "origin": "openalex:2741|Infrared Thermography in Medicine",
      "subfield": "imaging"
    }
  ],
  "title": "Artificial intelligence-assisted smartphone thermal imaging for pedicled facial and head-neck flaps: An exploratory feasibility study using ΔT-based proxy perfusion grading.",
  "title_text": "Artificial intelligence-assisted smartphone thermal imaging for pedicled facial and head-neck flaps: An exploratory feasibility study using ΔT-based proxy perfusion grading.",
  "type": "peer-reviewed",
  "updated_at": "2026-11-09T15:20:41Z",
  "url": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/2yf88qdewc2hw",
  "venue": "JPRAS open",
  "versions": []
}