Investigation of thoracico-abdominal infrared thermal imaging characteristics in patients with cervical HR-HPV infection

In this study, the thoracico-abdominal infrared thermographic characteristics of patients with cervical human papillomavirus (HPV) infection were investigated. The observation group comprised 68 cervical HPV-positive patients who visited the Department of Gynecology at Dongzhimen Hospital between August 2023 and December 2024. A control group consisting of 65 cervical HPV-negative women who underwent physical examinations at the hospital's health examination center during the same period was established. Infrared thermal imaging equipment was utilized to capture thoracico-abdominal infrared thermograms from all participants. The images exhibited a discernible thermal structural disorder in the observation group. The mean temperatures of the regions of interest (ROIs) in the infrared thermograms were extracted for both groups and analyzed statistically using SPSS 25.0. The results indicated that, compared with the control group, the observation group exhibited a characteristic elevation in lower abdominal temperature, which was particularly pronounced in the lower left abdomen (P < 0.05). These findings suggest that infrared thermal imaging of the thorax and abdomen in patients with high-risk HPV (HR-HPV) cervical infection reveals a characteristic increase in lower abdominal temperature. Registry: Ethics Committee of Beijing Dongzhimen Hospital, TRN: 2023DZMEC-370-03, Registration date: 28 August 2023.