Thermal Imaging as an Aid to the Diagnosis of Pain in Horses – First Results

On twelve healthy horses and on six horses with clinical symptoms of pain a basic clinical examination was carried out, followed by infrared thermography of the horses’s heads. Afterwards measurements of the temperature of the body surface over some selected measurement-points were accomplished. The aim of this study was to detect a special distribution pattern of the temperature of the head between the healthy horses and those showing symptoms of pain. In the group of horses with symptoms of pain it was noticeable that over the arteria and vena labialis superior, the arteria and vena angularis oculi and over the musculus levator nasolabialis and nervus infraorbitalis the highest mean and maximum differences in temperature were measured. These first results lead to the conclusion that a difference in the distribution pattern of temperature between the two groups of horses could be possible.