Highlights • Hand hygiene (HH) technique was assessed using a thermal camera connected to a smartphone. • Thermal imaging showed whether alcohol hand sanitizer was applied to the fingers and thumb. • Thermal camera readings revealed temperature changes due to the application of disinfectant. • Thermography shows promise as a method to evaluate hand hygiene technique. |
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Findings from a pilot study published today in the American Journal of Infection Control (AJIC) suggest that portable thermal imaging cameras could provide a new approach to assess and improve hand hygiene practices among healthcare professionals (HCPs).
"Effective hand hygiene is recognized as the most important act to prevent the transmission of potentially pathogenic microbes in the healthcare environment, but there is no widely adopted method to evaluate the effectiveness of hand hygiene technique of healthcare professionals. health," said Dr. John Boyce. , private consultant at JM Boyce Consulting, LLC, and author of the study. “Our study shows that thermography shows promise as an approach that warrants additional investigation to determine if it can be used for routine monitoring of hand hygiene technique to improve patient care.”
The World Health Organization (WHO) and the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommend the use of alcohol-based hand sanitizer (ABHS) in their hand hygiene guidelines. The application technique of ABHS, including the amount of liquid used and the duration of hand rubbing, has a substantial impact on antimicrobial efficacy. Several studies have documented that HCPs often do not apply ABHS to the thumb and fingertips.
Based on a previous study demonstrating that transient reductions in skin temperature occur after topical application of ABHS, Dr. Boyce and his colleague, Richard A. Martinello, MD, sought to determine whether thermal imaging with a Portable infrared thermal camera could reveal whether ABHS had been properly applied by HCPs, including on the fingertips and thumbs.
Using an infrared camera connected to an iPhone, they obtained thermal images of 12 HCP’s dominant hands, recording baseline readings from the mid-palm area, third finger tips, and thumb before and then at multiple time points after they Study participants will perform hand hygiene with ABHS (immediately after feeling dry hands, and one minute and 2 minutes later).
The images revealed significant decreases in palm, finger, and thumb temperature after participants sanitized their hands (p < 0.01 for all sites), confirming that the infrared camera was able to detect color changes that reflected drops in temperature. The researchers also found that when participants performed ABHS without including the thumbs, the lack of colorimetric change in the thumbs was visible in the resulting thermal images.
One volunteer with large hands did not have low palm, finger, or thumb temperatures after applying ABHS, suggesting that thermal imaging could also help measure the amount of ABHS needed based on the surface area of the individual hand. of HCP.
“The findings from this pilot study are exciting because they are the first to evaluate a new tool that could help infection preventionists assess the quality of hand hygiene technique during educational sessions, periodic competency assessments, and routine patient care,” said Linda Dickey, RN, MPH, CIC, FAPIC, 2022 APIC president.
Conclusions Thermography of hand hygiene performance shows promise for evaluating HH technique. Additional studies involving larger numbers of people under varying conditions are needed to establish whether thermography can be a practical modality for teaching or monitoring the HH technique. |
