Thermographic differentiation of thyroid carcinoma and adenoma in indeterminate cytology nodules: insights from intra- and preoperative imaging.
4 affiliations
- 1Department of Medicine, Dentistry and Biotechnology, "G. d'Annunzio" University of Chieti-Pescara, Chieti, Italy.
- 2Department of Engineering and Geology, University "G. d'Annunzio" of Chieti-Pescara, Pescara, Italy.
- 3Department of Surgical Oncological and Gastrointestinal Sciences, University of Padova, Padova, Italy.
- 4Department of Medicine and Aging Sciences, School of Medicine and Health Science, "G. d'Annunzio" University of Chieti-Pescara, Chieti, Italy.
Abstract
Thyroid carcinoma (TC) is the most common endocrine system tumor, whose diagnosis is performed through the fine-needle aspiration biopsy (FNAB), a minimally invasive procedure that uses a thin needle to extract cells from suspicious thyroid nodules for cytological examination. However, in 15-25% of cases there is no certain preoperative response (indeterminate lesions classified as TIR 3A or TIR 3B). In this perspective, developing alternative diagnostic methods is highly desirable. To this aim, infrared thermography (IRT) could be a valuable tool to detect the presence of thyroid cancer. The objective of this study is to investigate the feasibility and the effectiveness of employing IRT to discriminate thyroid cancers in clinical practice. The study included 25 participants who underwent to total thyroidectomy surgery: 6 with TC, 5 with thyroid adenoma (TA), and 14 with thyroid goiter (TS). IRT recordings were conducted twice for each patient: first after anesthetic induction with the cervical region exposed and second after intraoperative exposure of the thyroid gland. Two regions of interest (ROIs), corresponding to the right and left thyroid lobes, were analyzed for maximum (Tmax), minimum (Tmin), and average (Tavg) temperatures. The difference between the right and left thyroid lobes sides of the three evaluated metrics was calculated and assessed through t-tests for independent samples. Additionally, the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves were calculated to define a threshold for the difference in the considered metrics that distinguishes between subjects with carcinoma, adenoma, and goiter. Finally, a correlation analysis between the inner and external temperature was performed for the three groups. For the cervical region measurements, Tmax successfully distinguished between carcinoma and adenoma (P=0.035) and between goiter and carcinoma (P=0.034). Meanwhile, Tavg showed a significant difference between goiter and carcinoma (P=0.017). For measurements taken on the exposed gland, Tmax could differentiate between carcinoma and adenoma (P=0.044) and between goiter and carcinoma (P=3.81×10⁻4). Tavg was significant in distinguishing goiter from carcinoma (P=0.004) and goiter from adenoma (P=0.028). This pilot study determined the effectiveness of IRT in identifying thyroid nodular formations suspected of being neoplastic, providing specialists and patients with an additional diagnostic tool for managing thyroid nodules, especially those cytologically characterized as indeterminate risk neoplastic lesions. IRT could represent a valid complementary tool that may assist the physician in the diagnostic process of thyroid nodules.
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BibTeX
@article{bove2026thermographic,
title = {{Thermographic differentiation of thyroid carcinoma and adenoma in indeterminate cytology nodules: insights from intra- and preoperative imaging.}},
author = {Aldo Bove and Angelica Buffone and David Perpetuini and Roberto Manunzio and Raffaella Di Renzo and Matteo Costanzi and Stella Chiarini and Daniela Cardone and Arcangelo Merla},
journal = {Quantitative imaging in medicine and surgery},
year = {2026},
month = sep,
doi = {10.21037/qims-2026-1482},
url = {https://europepmc.org/article/MED/42997937},
note = {CC BY-NC-ND},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - Thermographic differentiation of thyroid carcinoma and adenoma in indeterminate cytology nodules: insights from intra- and preoperative imaging.
AU - Aldo Bove
AU - Angelica Buffone
AU - David Perpetuini
AU - Roberto Manunzio
AU - Raffaella Di Renzo
AU - Matteo Costanzi
AU - Stella Chiarini
AU - Daniela Cardone
AU - Arcangelo Merla
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/09/29
JO - Quantitative imaging in medicine and surgery
DO - 10.21037/qims-2026-1482
UR - https://europepmc.org/article/MED/42997937
AB - Thyroid carcinoma (TC) is the most common endocrine system tumor, whose diagnosis is performed through the fine-needle aspiration biopsy (FNAB), a minimally invasive procedure that uses a thin needle to extract cells from suspicious thyroid nodules for cytological examination. However, in 15-25% of cases there is no certain preoperative response (indeterminate lesions classified as TIR 3A or TIR 3B). In this perspective, developing alternative diagnostic methods is highly desirable. To this aim, infrared thermography (IRT) could be a valuable tool to detect the presence of thyroid cancer. The objective of this study is to investigate the feasibility and the effectiveness of employing IRT to discriminate thyroid cancers in clinical practice. The study included 25 participants who underwent to total thyroidectomy surgery: 6 with TC, 5 with thyroid adenoma (TA), and 14 with thyroid goiter (TS). IRT recordings were conducted twice for each patient: first after anesthetic induction with the cervical region exposed and second after intraoperative exposure of the thyroid gland. Two regions of interest (ROIs), corresponding to the right and left thyroid lobes, were analyzed for maximum (Tmax), minimum (Tmin), and average (Tavg) temperatures. The difference between the right and left thyroid lobes sides of the three evaluated metrics was calculated and assessed through t-tests for independent samples. Additionally, the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves were calculated to define a threshold for the difference in the considered metrics that distinguishes between subjects with carcinoma, adenoma, and goiter. Finally, a correlation analysis between the inner and external temperature was performed for the three groups. For the cervical region measurements, Tmax successfully distinguished between carcinoma and adenoma (P=0.035) and between goiter and carcinoma (P=0.034). Meanwhile, Tavg showed a significant difference between goiter and carcinoma (P=0.017). For measurements taken on the exposed gland, Tmax could differentiate between carcinoma and adenoma (P=0.044) and between goiter and carcinoma (P=3.81×10⁻4). Tavg was significant in distinguishing goiter from carcinoma (P=0.004) and goiter from adenoma (P=0.028). This pilot study determined the effectiveness of IRT in identifying thyroid nodular formations suspected of being neoplastic, providing specialists and patients with an additional diagnostic tool for managing thyroid nodules, especially those cytologically characterized as indeterminate risk neoplastic lesions. IRT could represent a valid complementary tool that may assist the physician in the diagnostic process of thyroid nodules.
SN - 2223-4292
SN - 2223-4306
ER -