Relashionships between the quality of thermographic image and the measure of skin temperature on piglets

In order to evaluate the influence of the quality of the thermal image in assessing piglet’s skin temperature, 576 images of back and 576 images of belly from 192 subjects were examined. Images were recorded using a FLIR P640 camera at 37, 45 and 55 days of age. Thermal images were analysed with software which calculates minimum, average, and maximum values of skin temperature. The quality of the images was evaluated subjectively by a reviewer assigning a rating of “excellent”, “good” or “fair” on the basis of the available surface for measuring and on the presence of dirt or wet skin area. Average and minimum skin temperatures of both sampling areas were significantly reduced with the decrease of thermal image quality, while maximum value was less affected by the image quality. This latter measure seems more suitable for thermographic assessment of piglet’s skin temperatures.